Up, Up And AGay!

DC Comics has decided to add a little rainbow to it's cast of superheroes after announcing a complete overhaul of its line last June. Along with the 52 new issues set to drop in September, the comic book giant will be introducing several LGBT characters.

"Apollo and Midnighter, a gay superhero couple who previously existed in DC’s alternate Wildstorm line of comics, have been incorporated into the company’s main cast of characters. They will join lesbians Batwoman, The Question, and the bisexual African-American superhero Voodoo in DC’s new universe."

DC Comics Co-publisher Dan Didio told The Advocate that he and others pushed hard for Batwoman.

"We introduced her quite a while ago and we really wanted to push her as one of the mainstay characters in Batman’s world. It was important for us to introduce a gay character in that series. It was important for us to have [that character] featured with a bat symbol on its chest because we knew that would draw the attention and show how much we were behind setting a standard of diversity in the line [and] also making her a strong character in her own right ...establishing [Batwoman] as a lesbian early on it givers her a different sensibility, a different point of view, and it also allows us to tell stories from a different angle that sets her apart from the other characters in Batman’s world."

Read the full feature HERE.

50 Cent To Write Anti-Bullying Book For Teens

Say what?  Despite building a career by starting beefs with other rappers (although I will grant that grown men rapping on records is slightly different than kids being systematically bullied by other kids), Fiddy is planning to pen a novel for young adults entitled Playground that takes a stand against bullying. The book is semi-autobiographical and is set to be released in January.

"I had a strong desire to write Playground because I wanted to explore how a kid becomes a bully," the rapper said in a statement announcing the book's release. "I drew on events from my own childhood and adolescence, but was excited to see the story take on its own life. This book would have been very helpful for me growing up and now that I have a teenage son, it is my goal that this will have a positive influence on all teenagers."

I'm not sure what to think of this. On one hand, it's great that the book will potentially reach so many kids. On the other hand, is he doing this because he's truly sincere, or is he, ever the shrewd businessman, just trying to ride the anti-bullying wave? So what do you think of 50's new project? Discuss.

Recommended Reading: A History Of God

For those interested in the history of the Big 3 (otherwise known as Christianity, Judaism and Islam) and how they evolved through the centuries, Karen Armstrong's A History Of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a great read.

Armstrong, a journalist and former nun, is very knowledgeable about her subject, giving a thorough analysis of the cultural, political and societal influences that lead to the creation of the three major religions, as well as how they interacted with and influenced each other.

While A History Of God is extremely interesting, it is not light reading. Unless you've already been acquainted with religious study, it will take more than a quick glance to understand some of the terminology and concepts. But Armstrong does a good job of making complex ideas understandable and engaging. While there's a lot you can take from the book, the three main ideas I gleaned from it were:

1. Religion is less divine revelation and more practical application. In other words, people will only believe in and hold on to a certain image/version of God as long as it works for them. If it ceases to be effective, then it is cast aside. The reinvention of God as taken place throughout history over and over again, as changes in society, political upheaval, cultural norms and scientific/technological advancement cause people to reassess God.
2. The idea of a personal, anthropomorphic God that exists in a separate reality is dangerous (no surprise there:), because it allows us to attach our own prejudices and fears to it. "God, "simply becomes a bigger version of ourselves, which can lead to such atrocities as the genocides detailed in the bible, the Crusades, The Holocaust, slavery etc. 
3. God works better when he is viewed as an imaginative symbol of an indescribable reality, a reality that is a subjective experience for each individual achieved through meditation, quiet concentration or other techniques for getting in touch with one's "inner self."

Whether you're religious or non-religious, A History Of God is an informative, insightful book.

R.I.P. E. Lynn Harris

Just as I was getting over Michael's death, this tragedy strikes. E. Lynn Harris died today while on a book tour on the West Coast. Harris reportedly went into cardiac arrest while staying at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. He was 54.

For those who don't know, I am a huge fan of this man's work. His first book Invisible Life, which told the story of closeted bisexual lawyer Raymond Tyler, was extremely helpful and comforting to me during my coming out. It was as if someone took all my anger, doubts, fears, happiness and sadness and put it on paper. I could truly see myself and some of my friends in Harris' books, most of which I own and have reread multiple times, including his memoir. From Just As I Am to I Say A Little Prayer, which dealt with the black church, sexuality and homophobia (subjects I'm obviously familiar with) Harris always managed to make me care about and relate to the characters in his stories.

A true talent has been lost to the literary world. Rest in peace E.

Recommended Reading

For anyone who's ever struggled to reconcile their faith with their sexuality, Horace L. Griffin's Their Own Receive Them Not: African Americans Gays and Lesbians in Black Churches, is a must-read.

The book discusses everything, from the roots of black homophobia, the abysmal response of many black churches to the AIDS crisis, to analyzing the Sodom and Gomorrah story and the other scriptures used to condemn LGBT people and gay relationships. All of this definitely helped me when I was rethinking my attitudes towards my spirituality and sexuality. According to Amazon.com:

Griffin, an openly gay African American pastoral theologican and seminary professor, offers new approaches to understanding scripture and homosexuality through pastoal theology and black liberation theology. He provides a historical overview and crticial analysis of the black church and its current engagement with lesbian and gay Christians, and shares ways in which black churches can learn to reach out and confront all types of oppression no just race--in order to do the work of the black community. The book received a 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Studies.

I've read the book multiple times, and recommend it to anyone trying to find their way out of the closet, or anyone whose just interested in the Bible and its history.