Charles Alexander
Parting Glances: BAA, BAA Pink sheep
I received a letter from a conservative group calling itself Balaam's Ass of America (after the Old Testament story of the fabled talking mule), asking for a five-buck, tax-deductible contribution "on behalf of gender confused pets in need of prayer [...]
Parting Glances: Book pages (Pt. 17)
Long, long before The Village People made "YMCA" the unofficial, persistent national anthem of gay men, ice skaters (and retirees), Ys played an important role, second only to bars, as places to meet available others of like-minded, [...]
Parting Glances: Plotting Debra's dialysis
JOURNAL ENTRY #1: It began months ago with a friendly call, cellphone received, 9:00 a.m., "May I speak to Debra S—-, please." "There's no Debra S—– here," I reply, groggy from a Monday's oversleep, wondering how the caller, a collection agent, got [...]
Parting Glances: Book pages (Pt. 16)
My friend Gary Widener believed that, contrary to the old saying, you CAN tell a book by its cover. He made books his gimmick for cruising. The first time I saw Gary – at the opening of Tennessee William's "Sweet Bird of Youth," starring Rip Torn [...]
Parting Glances: Ghost of Christmas past
One week before Christmas 25 years ago an EMS ambulance rushed me – intoxicated, suicidal, addled headed – to the Detroit Psychiatric Hospital. The nightmare of a classic lost weekend stretched into nine harrowing days. My recovery – the hit-bottom [...]
Parting Glances: E-mail Q&A for Sr. Scatterpin
Q: Do you believe in original sin? A: If you know someone who can be truly original, introduce me. I'm willing to try anything once. (Well, maybe twice if it doesn't take up two spaces in the parish parking lot.) By the way, if you're interested in [...]
Parting Glances: Gospel for Mary & Heather
1. In the Year of the Grand Delusion, during the Reign of Rumors of Lost Wars, a decree went out from the Tetrarch of Theocracy, abiding in the Capitol of Divine Cacophony, that all same-sex couples must register, under penalty of biblical [...]
Parting Glances: 042N19 Lat./083W02Long.
Permit me just a tad of immodesty. I received this on-the-mark SPAM last Monday. It brightened my day (and half that of BTL go-to-press Tuesday). I thought I'd share it with my equally immodest readers, of which I suspect I have more than a [...]
Parting Glances
I'm pleased to say I received many telephone calls (one 517 jingle from a VERY prominent Lansing lady) asking how Sister Serena Scatterpin and the International Recovering Catholics Badminton Team did at Gay Games VII. For PG readers (recovering [...]
Rev. Nancy: Have a blessed day
Few know that the Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, with 250 local congregations in 23 countries and a yearly operating budget of $2.3 million, is the largest GLBT-Q organization in the world. Disbarred Pentecostal minister and human [...]
Parting Glances: Gaymes with Scatterpin
FRIDAY (AM): I ride backpack on Sister Scatterpin's Heavenly Harley, the two of us heading to Chicago for Gay Games VII. Sister keeps to an ecumenical 85 mph on I-94, with a meditational pullover at Belleville's Cracker Barrel. Tidbit over low-fat [...]
Parting Glances: The mind boggles
A recent Canadian study finds there's indication that boys born into families of older brothers — presumably straight and butch — statistically are often likely to be gay. As an only child, I can't say I'm queer either by default of brotherly love [...]