Laura Hall's Blog

This photo of my father was taken in Los Angeles in October, 1940. It is the latest one I have of him during the brief period of time that he was out. Two months after it was taken he was arrested for being gay. He told me he feared he might spend the rest of Read More...

Hello. Ever since my memoir was published last July, I have been receiving a few emails every month from people telling me how healing my memoir has been for them or for a loved one. This has inspired me to donate books to Little Free Libraries whenever I come across them. If you’ve purchased a Read More...

Staff review, Books Inc. – Berkeley, California – April 2, 2022 “This is a compelling tale about a ‘perfect’ family and the secrets that kept them together. As the child of a closeted gay man in a heterosexual marriage, Hall shows ut he ramifications of discrimination not only in the lives of the LGBTQA+ community, Read More...

I read Chasten Buttigieg’s memoir, “I Have Something To Tell You: A Memoir,” and was so moved by it that I wanted to send him a copy of mine in gratitude for all he’s done for LGBTQ youth. I mailed it to his husband in the hopes it would get to Chasten. I addressed the Read More...

I read Chasten Buttigieg’s memoir, “I Have Something To Tell You: A Memoir,” and was so moved by it that I wanted to send him a copy of mine in gratitude for all he’s done for LGBTQ youth. I mailed it to his husband in the hopes it would get to Chasten. I addressed the Read More...

My closeted father (1918-2008) rarely displayed anger. I’ve wondered about why this was the case. Friends of mine who also grew up with closeted dads had very different experiences in their families. But in a conversation I recently had about this with Harvey Brownstone, the first openly gay judge in Canada, he suggested a possible Read More...

My interview with Harvey Brownstone, the first openly gay judge in Canada, is now up for view. In 2007, Justice Brownstone officiated at the marriage of Edith “Edie” Windsor and Thea Spyer, a marriage that triggered the debate at the U.S. Supreme Court and led to same-sex marriage being declared legal in the United States. Read More...

For me it all started with my straight mom and my gay dad. Their six-decades’ long, star-crossed love story, and mine as their anxious, inquisitive secondborn, publicly emerge from the shadows today.

For me it all started with my straight mom and my gay dad. Their six-decades’ long, star-crossed love story, and mine as their anxious, inquisitive secondborn, publicly emerge from the shadows today.

Pride Month is winding down, San Francisco is awash in rainbow flags and banners, and my emotions are in high gear. Growing up, I was inordinately proud of my father. He wasn’t like the other dads in our neighborhood on the San Francisco Peninsula. Instead of football games and fishing trips on weekends, we visited Read More...