Bruce K. Beck's Blog

June always fills my heart with joy and wonder because of the very real achievements of LGBTQIA activists and the rest of us who simply live our lives as out gay people.  I’m celebrating hard-won victories this month.  For instance, when Walter and I decided to get married, we had to go to Canada—because our union was not yet legal in the USA.  That was 2007!  And now equality is the law of the land.  For the moment, anyway.

I’m proud.  But I’m also terrified.  And I think we all should be.  There have always been spoilers and fanatics and White Supremacists and fundamentalists of various stripes.  Most sensible people ignored the fanatics—not because they expected them to go away, but because their power base was so limited.  Not so today.  Now the fanatics have the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court of the Unites States by the throat.  Not to mention numerous state governments.

Outliers used to communicate in dog whistles.  The like-minded knew the codes for non-Whites, homosexuals, Jews, liberals, and the targets of the moment.  Now these “low lives,” as Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D-PA) called them in a recent interview on MSNBC, are so emboldened that they speak very plainly about their plans and prejudices as they pursue their “celebration of indecency” in a Congress that has become “a very sad circus.”

But of course, it’s not just about the recent debt-limit-increase shenanigans.  Book bans, purging of school curricula, and hate speech as free speech—that’s exactly how fascists and autocrats do it.  Have for generations.  And everyone knows it.  Any court that can disenfranchise half the population (Dobbs) can be expected to attack more than just the autonomy of women and their right to medical care.  Is Marriage next?  You tell me.

Despite the new transparency of hate speech among the MAGA wing of Americans, there is a newly minted code word that chills my blood every time I hear it:  Trans.  The new power word among haters.  Everyone with a whit of intelligence knows that trans people make up such a tiny portion of the global population—1% to 2% perhaps?—that they have been able to fly under the radar for ages.  No longer.  Now they are fair game, and in some states their parents can be arrested for seeking proper medical care for their children.

The suffering is real.  But every time I hear the word Trans, I hear, “Get ready faggots and Jews, because you’re next.”  It’s not pretty, boys and girls and everyone else.  I wish I had some answers.  I have none.  But I do know that awareness and voting and activism are more important than ever.  But I’ll step down from my soap box and celebrate this lovely month!

Thanks for joining me on this journey,
Bruce

The post Pride and Prejudice appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

The Fourth of July—following closely on Pride Month—always reminds me how fragile our liberties are.  And never have I had a keener sense of our fragilities then I do today.  But it seems to me that the Constitution is still reasonably intact, and that wisdom and justice still abide in the land—except where they don’t, of course (most notably at SCOTUS).

When I was a young gay man, testing the limits of my freedoms, I probably thought I could trust others to keep me safe.  If I was ever that naïve, I’ve certainly outgrown it.  It’s not that I thought everyone had my best interests at heart.  I just assumed that MLK’s famous moral arc was bending in the direction of justice for all.  And I believed it was.  No doubt it will again, but that is obviously not it’s direction today.

The recent decision by the Court to gut women’s reproductive freedoms reminded me of the debt of gratitude gay men owe gay women for their support during the darkest days of the AIDS crisis.  Without that lesbian activism, the death toll would be even higher.  I guess I’m saying I’m well aware that a vicious attack on women deserves a vigorous response from men.

I’ve spoken before about my poor record as an activist.  I know I’m not alone in that department.  But it no longer seems enough to vote thoughtfully in every election and to be publicly out as much as possible.  I will continue to write stories with strong LGBTQ+ characters who demand respect because they are quality humans, not because some court said they are okay.

But there is so much more that needs doing.  Citizenship makes demands of us.  And never more than right now.  And I’m not sure exactly what I can do.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter.  As always, I thank you for joining me on this journey.

Bruce

The post Independence? appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

You haven’t heard from me lately because in mid-April, when I was rushing across Eighth Avenue to meet a cousin for an early supper after her matinee, I took a spill and managed to bust my right shoulder and right kneecap.  The shoulder surgery that followed was but one feature of the hospitalization which resulted.  And the huge brace that has been immobilizing my knee came off this morning.   I thought it best to write to you as I experience the results of that six-week healing.

The weeks of forced bed-rest have felt like torture, and the experience has weakened my brain as well as my body.  I managed to finish a short story that was four-fifths of the way along before my sudden mishap.  And that’s about all I have to show for the recent past—that and an impressive scar that is already fading into obscurity while the x-ray record of my surgeon’s prowess remains vivid—illustrating a most elegant combination of a custom-fitted steel plate and nine screws.

This first day of Pride Month feels like an inflection point, as it does every year, I suppose.  This year it feels especially urgent to focus on the possibilities for the future rather than the wounds of the past.  At a time when women’s reproductive rights and freedoms seem poised to lose federal protection, it’s easy to imagine the same fate for LGBTQ rights and guarantees.

These are dangerous times we live in, friends.  So as we celebrate our achievements, let us also be mindful of the perilous path ahead.  This is an election year, after all.  So let’s be especially prideful about voting in primaries and in the general election this November.  As always, let’s treat this year as though our very future depends upon it.  Because it does!

Let’s rally ’round the (rainbow) flag this month, for certain.  But let’s also proudly wear the mantle of adulthood as we participate in the rituals of civilization.  Thank you for joining me on this journey.

Bruce

The post Pride with Purpose appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

With all the horrible things going on in the world, I must say that what I find most disturbing are the attempts by state legislators (with help from the Supreme Court?) to strip LGBTQ citizens of their civil rights.  Of course, some of these rights were mere glimmers of hope when I was a kid.  But young people have grown to expect the blessings of liberty for all, while older Republicans are attempting to snatch those rights away.

Some of the grabs are subtle—cloaked in the guise of parental rights and religious freedom.  Others are more overt and more comfortable for the “God Hates Fags” crowd.  Perhaps the most shocking ones are the attempts to criminalize parents who are seeking proper medical care for their trans children.  But all these atrocities and attempted atrocities are dangerous and pernicious.

I’ve never been an activist.  I’ve tried to live an authentic life, and I share my husband’s view that it’s always important to be out—to be unapologetically visible.  But the only time I ever marched was to protest the runup to George W Bush’s Iraq War.  Sadly, even Susan Sarandon and Pete Seeger couldn’t stop that disaster.

I guess I’m saying I’m glad I have comfortable shoes and clothing for all seasons.  Because this might be the year to hit the streets.  Or something.  I don’t know yet.  But I think there’s lots to worry about.  And there’s no point in pretending it isn’t happening.  Wish I could offer solutions, but, of course, vigilance is always important.  Thanks for letting me vent.

Bruce

The post Don’t Say Gay? appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

OutRight has launched a fundraising campaign to channel funds to LGBTIQ groups in Ukraine for shelter and support in nearby countries.  100% of the funds raised for OutRight’s Ukraine fund will go to local organizations in Ukraine or neighboring countries that are supporting queer & trans people impacted by the invasion of Ukraine.

Please consider making a generous donation at outrightinternational.org/ukraine.

I’m happy to offer a free ebook to all who contribute $25 or more to this worthy cause.  So make your donation, email me at bruce@audacitybooks.com, and I’ll send you a download link to my Summer Tales.  It’s a collection of short stories with my most inclusive cast of characters yet.

So please donate, tell me, and receive a free ebook.  On the honor system.  Let’s make a difference!

Bruce

The post Make a Difference! appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

Like the rest of us, I’ve been swept up in the drama unfolding in Eastern Europe this week.  Will he or won’t he?  Can he take down the democratically elected government of Ukraine, or will he find himself back on his heels?  Will the world rise up against Vladimir Putin, or will we just watch in horror as he swallows up a sovereign nation?  There are more questions than answers.

One trusted journalist on the ground described Kyiv as a sophisticated, modern city about the size of Chicago with its eyes on the West.  I lived in Chicago for a few years a long time ago, so that description gave me a frame of reference I might have otherwise missed.  I’ve never lived through a siege of my homeland, and yet I’ve learned a whole lot about empathy in recent years.

As my heart goes out to all the brave citizens of Ukraine, I’m wondering particularly about the fate of my LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters there.  I Googled them and learned some facts—pre-war, of course.  I learned that homosexual relations between consenting adults are legal, but that marriage equality is expressly forbidden by the Constitution.

Principles like that naturally lead to discrimination in adoption and other social/legal/medical situations.  I’m wondering where this will all land when the present danger is in the rear-view mirror.  I have no doubt that queers will fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their straight neighbors until they have secured their country.  And I’m hoping that will lead to substantive change in the future.

It’s not that a common enemy always brings humans to lay down their prejudices.  But it’s hard to hate the faggot who has your back.  I guess I’m looking for something positive to come from the current mess.  Call me Pollyanna.  I’ve been called worse.  Thanks for reading my rant.

Bruce

The post Musings on War appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

Food and cooking have been an important part of my life since I was a child.  Is there such a thing as gay food?  I think those days are long gone.  But I’ve heard stories about entertaining habits among sociable gay men in the Fifties and Sixties—before I was out there on the hosting front.

Apparently, men who wanted to have friends over for dinner were faced with the fact that no one knew how to cook.  So they prepared mostly the kinds of meals that post-WWII housewives prepared:  Lots of “convenience” items in cans and bags and freezer packs combined in sometimes unlikely ways.  With the occasional rib roast added in.

We have the “home economists” at the big food companies to thank for those inventions.  And the most ubiquitous dish—in gay and straight households—was probably Tuna Noodle Casserole.  To the point that it became known, by gays anyway, as Fairy Pudding.  In case you haven’t heard of it, I can assure you it is a relic of the past best left buried.

Oh, all right, if you insist, I’ll walk you through it.  Take a bag of egg noodles and boil them in some water until they’re overdone.  Drain and combine in a baking dish with a can of Campbell’s cream-of-mushroom soup.  I can’t remember whether you have to dilute it with milk or not.  Stir in two little cans of tuna—well drained—and top the mixture with crushed potato chips or fried onion rings.  Bake in a moderate oven until heated through and lightly browned on top.  Serve with pride.

Gradually though, the example of Julia Child and James Beard and other influencers began to waken the American kitchen from its post-war slumber.  Beard himself was a gay host, of course, but not of the Fairy Pudding variety, presumably.  By the Seventies, I was poaching trout and serving them en gelée.  In 1976 I preserved a goose for a giant cassoulet.  And I stuffed a whole filet of beef with foie gras and truffles.

I grew more sensible as time went by, I hope.  But those mid-Seventies honeymoon years were lovely—at the time and in memory.  When I decided to write about the summer of ’76, I realized it couldn’t be a memoir, exactly, because real life seems too random to hang a story on.  So I invented half the characters and situations for my Love Trilogy.  But I couldn’t resist peppering my stories with lots of food.  As I often do now.

So that’s how I happened to write a cookbook companion to YOU’RE SURE TO FALL IN LOVE.  It contains recipes for nearly every dish mentioned in the book.  The ebook is on sale for $.99 through the end of March at amazon.com and the other platforms—Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, among others.  Let me know if the sale pricing isn’t in place yet.  I’d like to hear your thoughts on the recipes!  I love them all.  Thanks for joining me.

Bruce

The post Beyond Fairy Pudding appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

Watching the re-release of the recent Howard’s End on PBS Masterpiece, I’m reminded of various aspects of building a story.  E M Forster was masterful, of course, which is why most of his novels have been translated to the screen (Howard’s End, A Passage to India, A Room with a View, Maurice, Where Angels Fear to Tread).  Those pictures certainly kept Helena Bonham Carter busy, by the way.

Comparing the recent four-part version of Howard’s End on TV to the 1992 film version—both of them superbly acted—I’m struck by the major difference in the two.  It’s something I noticed the first time I read the book, when I was twenty-one.  And the creators of the pre-pandemic two-part Broadway marathon The Inheritance also grasped the concept.  And that is—drum roll—Henry Wilcox must be deadly attractive.

For all his buttoned-down, conservative, business-like exterior, Henry is also intensely endearing.  The first Mrs. Wilcox saw that, of course.  She didn’t marry Henry and bear him three children simply because it was the polite thing to do.  Henry attracts women of substance who accept him for who he is.  Margaret Schlegel is no man’s fool, and she’s incapable of committing to anything like a marriage of convenience.  Oh, no.  She gives Henry her heart—because he earns it.  Because he has a heart of his own, as much as he has tried to hide it through the years.

In the 1992 movie, Anthony Hopkins, fine as his work always is, didn’t quite exude the sex appeal Henry needs to have.  In my opinion.  Matthew Macfadyen, on PBS, totally gets it.  His Henry Wilcox is as stuffy as you please, while at the same time he makes us wonder what he’d be like if we got him out of his tweeds and into bed.  Without that, there’s no story!  And watching Macfadyen interact with Hayley Atwell (as Margaret) and the rest of the fine cast is a sheer joy.

I’ll leave my review of Howard’s End at that, for now.  But I think I’ve always understood the importance of physical passion in my stories.  Without it, they would crumble under the weight of good intensions and clever dialogue.  Forster understood it.  As did Shakespeare, Austen, Morrison, Tolstoy, Baldwin.  All the greats.  Anyway, I’ll share some other lessons learned about constructing a story in future posts.  Thanks for joining me on this journey!

Bruce

The post Romance for All Seasons appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,
In honor of my birthday (last Saturday), and with Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I’ve decided to give away five copies of my Holiday Novella Series Box Set.  So if you’re feeling romantic, please take a selfie of you and your significant other before Valentine’s Day and post it to my FaceBook feed (@brucekbeck) or email it to me.  That will be your contest entry.  I’ll choose five winners, and we’ll get autographed copies of this romantic series in the mail right away.  (If you live outside the USA, we’ll work out something with downloads or postage.  Not to worry).  And we’ll announce the winners on all our channels.  Thanks to all the lovers out there for taking an interest!

Bruce

The post Romantic Selfies appeared first on Audacity Books.

Dear Friends,

With all the hatred swirling around us—homophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, and other forms of bigotry—we need all the information we can get to keep ourselves safe.  The current state of mainstream public media sources adds to the confusion and fear.  All of that came to mind this week when I realized I hadn’t checked in with Gay USA lately (gayusatv.org).

I did a little homework to check my facts.  I knew that journalist/activist Andy Humm started reporting the news on Lou Maletta’s Gay Cable Network in the mid-1980s.  I learned that journalist/activist Ann Northrup joined Andy as co-host of Gay USA in 1996.  That made sense to me, because that was the period of time—the mid-1990s—when I used to show up for events.

I’ve never been an activist, but I would turn up for the occasional Marriage Equality rally or AIDS awareness event; the June Pride Parade, of course; Leather Pride, every year, camera in hand.  Ann and Andy were always very much in evidence (though not for Leather, as I remember).

I always found them both to be approachable and quite charming, despite their roles as fierce advocates.  Charm comes easily to Ann, I think.  Andy seems to have carefully constructed a grumpy and priggish persona, but I always suspected he’s a teddy bear at heart.  Sorry, Andy, if I’m blowing your cover.  I’ll send you some more of my books, in the hope that will soothe the sting.

So, Ann Northrup and Andy Humm have been getting into good trouble for decades now, to keep us informed about all things LGBTQ+.  They jump right into the headlines, they explore the small local stories the big networks miss, and they tell us what’s happening all over the world.  Watching Gay USA makes me feel exactly as I feel when I’m out of the country and something big happens in the USA.  I mean, I get a perspective I never get from the usual sources.

If you’re not a Gay USA viewer (or listener—there’s an audio podcast version, too) then you owe it to yourself to fix that.  I’m just saying.  Knowledge is power!  I’ll give you a publishing update next week.

Thanks for your support.
Bruce

The post In Celebration of GAY USA appeared first on Audacity Books.