Gay Spirituality A Very Queer Vision

Toby was interviewed by Nils Taranger for his film A Blue Flower.
Nils has a website at Mason & the Sons of Ma.

Here's a YouTube video

https://youtu.be/J2KcBgXvIe0

Toby Johnson has a YouTube channel,

featuring a talk titled The Gay Hero's Journey

The Gay Hero Journey

Here's the script and images for Toby Johnson's presentation

The Hero's Journey & the Gay Hero

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Toby and Kip Got Married

March 16, 2018, 34th anniversary
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Speaking of marriage…

Austin Gay Psychotherapist and Relationship Expert, Jeff Lutes, hosts a podcast

Kip Dollar & Toby Johnson were his first guests for Episode 1: Young Banker Meets Head of the Homosexuals Click here to listen

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Toby Johnson & Kip Dollar are proud to be included among the 700-some couples in the wonderful Days of Love: Celebrating LGBT History One Story at a Time by Elisa Rolle

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Read about Toby Johnson and Kip Dollar

Toby Johnson had an article titled Queer Men, Myths and Reincarnation in the April 2018 issue of The Holy Male

Gregory Foster’s ’zine carries on the tradition of White Crane Journal.

The Holy Male is a queer and gay men's literary and artistic magazine based in Vancouver, BC with a mission, as the name implies, of presenting positive visions of men's consciousness. It is maintained and edited by Gregory Foster. The Holy Male is looking for submissions of art of all kinds, poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction (essays, interviews, memoirs, biography, literary journalism, social or cultural commentary or analysis) and visual art.

LGBTQ+ historian Eric Cervini offers brief lessons in gay history on Instagram AND on DiscoveryPlus TV. He is author of The Deviant's War, the life of Frank Kameny. Cervini is entertaining and cute! A great way to present unknown history. Here's a review of The Deviant's War.

New book reviews:

Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood by John D'Emilio is a lovely and entertaining and enlightening memoir of the notable historian of gay culture.

I Came Here Seeking a Person by William Glenn is a book of autobiographical chapters on significant spiritual events in this devout gay Christian's life journey.

Queer God de Amor by Miguel H. Diaz queers the mysticism of St John of the Cross by taking seriously the sexual imagery in the poet/monk's writings.

Our Time: San Francisco in the ’70s by Chuck Forester is a novel about gay/queer genre literature and the importance of gay history and culture.

The Erotic Contemplative by Michael Bernard Kelly recounts the stages of homosexual psychospiritual maturation in the terms of the traditional Catholic mystical life.

Heavenly Homos, Etc by Jan Haen is a presentation of LGBTQ people in history whom society and the Church considered saints and heroes.

Toby Johnson reviews A New Now by Michael Goddart, a book of seriously good advice/wisdom about how to think about your experience, your life, and yourself.

Where's My Pizza? by Larry Armistead II offers techniques for changing your consciousness so that what you expect for yourself manifests itself in your real life.

Two Hearts Dancing by Eli Andrew Ramer is a wonderful followup to Ramer's classic book of imaginative gay myths, Two Flutes Playing.

Jonas and the Mountain by Janis Harper is a book of spiritual wisdom and a romance novel with appealing characters and a lovely plot.

Toby Johnson wrote a Foreword to Shokti Lovestar's autobiographical account of his healing from AIDS and transforming his vision of life in From AIDS To Eternity. (link to Shokti's site)

Toby Johnson is pleased to have assisted Richard Ammon publish in book form some of the content about gay life around the world from his extensive website: Life and Death in a Global Gay World

All the Time in the World by J. Lee Graham is a delightful Young Adult novel with a time travel plot.

Clobber the Passages by Mel White reports on the damage caused by the anti-gay interpretation of the Bible.

The Sum of All the Pieces by Paul Bradford is a heartrending but ultimately uplifting account of an older gay man's struggle to be true to himself in spite of horrendous odds.

Sex with God by Suzanne DeWitt Hall is a book of meditations, some practical, some profound, on the spiritual side of sex and how to experience sex as spiritual.

What Is the Grass by Mark Doty, a literary analysis of Walt Whitman's poetry, into which is beautifully blended a series of meditations and musings on the nature of sex, love, and especially the Self, with a capital S.

The Deviant's War by Eric Cervini tells the story of Frank Kameny, leader of Washington Mattachine, author of the phrase "Gay is Good."

How to be an Excellent Human Being by Bill Meacham, a wonderful book that truly explains everything from the nature of reality to consciousness to how to live well and be happy the best and right way.

Trust Truth by Trudie Barreras tells the true story of a marriage in which the gay husband's sexuality is recognized and handled honestly and positively for both.

The Mountains of Paris by David Oates is a beautifully written memoir of living for a stint in Paris and figuring out what life is all about.

Stay Woke: A Meditation Guide for the Rest of U s by Justin Michael Williams offers instruction in meditation and life-improvement for a young hip-hop, digital, woke and aware generation.

Bernhard & LightWing

by Damien Rowse describes a spiritual practice of holding another person, flesh to flesh, in loving, meditative repose.

A New World by Whitley Strieber Different people live in different universes. And the world is bigger than we know.

David's Story: Healed by faith, love, inner strength and the strong will to survive by Marie Rothenberg & Mel White is a moving account of the tragedy of young David Rothenberg's, a 5 year old boy terribly burnned at the hands of his father, then nursed back to life by his mother. Disturbing, but also uplifting and inspiring. Toby Johnson assisted with publication of the 2022 edition.

The Flip by Jeffrey J. Kripal,

a book about changing perspective to see that consciousness is bigger than just the human brain, and the world we all live in is just the surface of a greater "super natural" reality.

The Galilee Episode by Ronald Goetz explains the mysterious verses in the New Testament about "one being taken and one being left."

Hint: it's gay

There are lots more book reviews below,
click here

Read about Ray Rigoglioso and the Gay Men of Wisdom Project click here

Lifecoach Raymond L. Rigoglioso was running a monthly telephone discussion group, occasional weekend Intensives (at Easton Mountain) and a website about understanding gayness as a spiritual and life-positive, contributing vocation. He has published his discoveries in a book titled Gay Men and The New Way Forward.

Toby Johnson contributed a Foreword to this book.

Says Rigoglioso: "When society persecutes LGBT people, it harms society at large. We need new messages:

We are your priests.
We are your nurses, physicians, and therapists.
We are the ones who create the beauty and culture that enrich your life.
We go first, blazing paths that create what's new.
We persuade religion to choose love over exclusion.
We reinvent manhood.
We free and enrich the human spirit.
We are straight women's best friends.
We model balanced manhood.
We entertain, subvert, and inject humor into a stiffening society.
Without us, society suffers. When you persecute us, you harm yourselves.

This is the message we must send. By teaching those who see us only as a sexuality that their religion deems flawed, we will give each person a window into how they contribute to the health and welfare of the human race.

The LGBT movement needs a new vision and message. And that is what Gay Men of Wisdom aims to create."

Gay Men of Wisdom has posted a wonderful 5 min video on YouTube titled: Are Gay Men REALLY Different? click on title to view in a new window

Scroll down for more

Toby Johnson champions the "Gay Men's Spirituality Movement."

Toby's spoken with Harry Faddis for the Quest of Life radio show and podcast.
Click here for links

He is former editor of White Crane Journal

Read about the Varieties of Gay Spiritualities

Books on Gay Spirituality:
White Crane Gay Spirituality Series

Toby Johnson is profiled on
the DREAMWalker Group site

Items of note:

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Toby enjoyed the ABC-TV movie written by Dustin Lance Black based on the book by Cleve Jones When We Rise. Toby Johnson recognized several intersections of events in the movie with his own life. Here's a link to his brief reminiscences

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Bruce Grether's The Secret of the Golden Phallus: Male Erotic Alchemy for the 21st Century with Introduction by Joseph Kramer and Afterword/ Commentary by Toby Johnson

Visit Erotic Engineering, a facebook page about Bruce Grether & Blue Tyger's training in heightening erotic consciousness

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Toby's friend Dennis Paddie has a novel out from Lethe Press.

It's a doozey! see Dennis Paddie

A sensible conspiracy theory of 9/11 • the secret of the Knights Templar • a gay Mata Hari seducing secrets from modern Araby • a confrontation with death and a peek into the Bardo • young gay lovers discovering the pleasures of high class life with Washington, DC socialites—and the dangers • reminiscences of gay life in Austin TX in the 1960s • an incredible, literary melange.

ASK THE FIRE by Dennis Paddie .

Toby Johnson contributed an Afterword and Commentary on the mythic/mystical meaning of the Crucifixion of Jesus for The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision A book of essays by Kittredge Cherry And paintings by Doug Blanchard

click here for more information and links to purchase

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Here's a webpage presentation that Toby showed to illustrate his talk, "Gay Perspective & the New Myth" in London, Oct 2014. Toby's talk at LoveSpirit 2014 This is a good summary of Toby Johnson's basic theories of gay consciousness and of religion and myth, and an explication of why Johnson thinks of himself as "Joseph Campbell's Apostle to the Gay Communty." Among the organizers of LoveSpirit 2014 was Mark Whiting who uses the Faerie name Shokti Lovestar. He writes extensively about gay men's spiritualites. Here's a link: Gay Consciousness changing the world by Shokti LoveStar.

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Toby recognized the upsidedown book on MSNBC

Read a wonderful celebration of the word "Yes" from James Joyce's Ulysses.

Search this site with google

Toby's experience of learning "The Secret of the Clear Light" from Joseph Campbell and the real meaning of afterlife.

The Nature of Religion according to Joseph Campbell. A very wise statement from The Hero with A Thousand Faces. (Links to The Joseph Campbell Foundation and the Campbell Gimbutas Library and Archives at Pacifica

About Gay Men's Sexuality

Recollections from Toby's life -- Buying the house from the Gadpailles & Being God on ketamine -- Two stories about Drawing Long Straws:

The modern American idea of Freedom of Religion reveals a deep secret about the nature of religion and God.

Gay Saintliness is a review of Donald Boivert's Sanctity and Male Desire. The article contains a stirring gay positive paragraph by Boisvert.

Christian de la Huerta, author of Coming Out Spiritually: The Next Step, identifies ten spiritual functions of gay and lesbian people.

A succinct description of the subtle workings of the spirit in gay men's lives.

A wonderful story called "I Want to Know Them All" by Toby's straight hippie friend L. Houston Wood in the early 70s that appeared in an issue of White Crane Journal about the Bodhisattva identity

Is It Time to Grow Up? Confronting the Aging Process— This article appeared in The Advocate, March 1984. The central ideas are still relevant 30 years later. Interesting discussion of how homosexuality seems to retard aging.

Notes on Licking (July, 1984) was published in Blueboy Magazine. It's a partly tongue-in-cheek argument for practicing good hygiene while still relishing gay sex practices. Precocious for 1984 and still good advice today.

Toby Johnson had an article in the L.A. Weekly as part of a series for Gay Pride 2012, titled "What does it Mean to be Gay?"

Pleasure as a Spiritual Path is Toby's Commentary on Bruce P. Grether's The Secret of the Golden Phallus, a remarkable book about pleasure, arousal, and mindful masturbation.

A Different Take on Leathersex features an excerpt from an Interview with Alexander Renault about a spiritual explanation for S&M, B&D, etc.

Seeing Pornography Differently offers a very positive and enlightened way to understand gay men's pornography.

About Mystical Vision

What's true about Religion is the deep religious experience that belief and "faith" are intended to generate

Toby's account of the mystical experience in 1969 at Our Lady of Riverside Priory—Benedict Castle—that transformed his vision of life and God.

How to get to heaven tells a marvelous and insightful story by French Existential playwright Jean Anouilh: the way to get to heaven is to let the other people in too.

Seeing with Different Eyes: How we human beings see the world is based more on our expectations than on what's really out there (an excerpt from In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld).

Eckhart's Eye is a meditation on the evocative "koan": "The eye with which I see God is the eye with which God sees me."

Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil, another excerpt from In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld, recounts of Toby's discovery of spiritual wisdom in the oddest of places, the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.

God and Sex The Introduction to the book In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld about the importance of giving spiritual meaning to sex.

Rescue in the Night, another excerpt from In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld, recounts Toby's experience of trying to rescue a therapy client in the middle night--when everything goes wrong and Toby almost gets murdered.

The Commandment "Thou shalt not steal" is not a basis for private ownership of property. The Buddhist precept "No Stealing" is about compassion for others' feelings, not property rights.

Joseph Campbell and Ken Wilber's critique of the "Pre/Trans Fallacy": Three important themes in Campbellian thought.

In the article Sex with God, Toby Johnson describes a method for reconciling and merging sexuality and spirituality. With a nod to Jeff Kripal.

Merging Religion and Sex Toby Johnson offers a simple technique for spiritualizing and expanding sexual pleasure.

God as a Metaphor offers several salient images for thinkjing about God: as America, as love.

About Joseph Campbell and the New Myth

About Spirituality, Science Fiction, Myth and Wisdom

How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated, a cute piece, a little tongue-in-cheek, but with a profound meaning about gay identity and gay spirit.

Wallwalkers & Gatekeepers is about the perspective of the outsider, wall-walker who can see both sides of the wall.

Jesus and Avalokiteshvara compares the two great World Saviors to discover the true meaning of both.

The Marian Doctrines: The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in historic context.

An essay celebrating growing up Catholic, with a twist: The Importance of Having to Church to Leave

Interview with Henry Seale about the nature of gay spirituality, "gay separatism," and Deep Consciousness. This page is a tribute to Peter Grahame and Henry Seale (Henry passed away in February 2019).

Jesus and the Wedding Feast tells what Toby Johnson realizes what really happened with turning water into wine.

The Closet of Horrors, an excerpt from The Fourth Quill about the nature of suffering; a remarkable mystical experience.

What is Truth? offers a simple test for the "truth" of religious beliefs — Do they make you a better person?

History

Most of what Toby Johnson knows of gay history he learned from his work with Toby Marotta. Marotta has a website with historical gay political posters for sale and with an exhibit of gay liberation documents called Revisiting Stonewall.

In February 2017, ABC-TV ran a miniseries about gay liberation activity in San Francisco. It as mostly centered on the life of Cleve Jones. Toby Johnson's experience in S.F. in the 70s intersected with a numbers of the events shown. Read Intersections with the movie When We Rise

Along with Patrick McNamara, Duncan Teague, Craig Harwood, Dave Nimmons, as well as Mark Thompson, Christian de la Huerta, David Frechter, Michael Sigmann, Bo Young, Dan Vera, and others, Toby Johnson assisted with the calling of a "Gay Spirit Summit" in Spring 2004 at Garrison Institute. Read about the Gay Spirituality Summit and the "Statement of Spirituality" with Toby's commentary.

Interesting article from the 1981 West Coast Christopher Street Parade magazine by L.A. gay pioneer Jim Kepner, titled The Seach for Gay Spirit. Everything he wrote about in 1981 is still current 30 years later in 2011.

Allen Ginsberg discovered a line of "Gay Succession" from Walt Whitman to himself… and beyond.

My first Peace March tells of Toby Johnson's memories to marching on Washington DC to "Levitate the Pentagon," Oct 21, 1967

Toby Marotta's Harvard dissertation became The Politics of Homosexuality, a brilliant analysis of political, cultural, and psychological themes and dynamics in the rise of gay liberation.

In 1978, Toby Johnson was a "parade monitor," stationed just below the newly-inaugurated Rainbow Flags that have come to symbolize transformation

One of the earliest expressions of "Gay Spirituality" showed up as the book The Divine Androgyne According to Purusha. Earlier in his life as a gay cultural activist, under the name Christopher Larkin, Purusha had made the gay romantic movie A Very Natural Thing.

About the study of teenage prostitution Toby Marotta and Toby Johnson worked in for URSA in 1978-1980

About Guy Mannheimer and the Mann Ranch Seminars. Guy was Toby's first lover, 1972-1976.

About Esther Bell. Esther was a 90 year old woman whom Guy and Toby befriended and visited and took care of a little for 3 or 4 in the mid-70s. We used to drive her to the grocery store.

About Toby Marotta, author of The Politics of Homosexuality and Sons of Harvard: Gay Men in the Class of 1967

About Richard Baltzell, literary editor, good friend and wonderful man. He introduced me to A Course in Miracles. And changed my life!

About Dennis Paddie, Austin/San Antonio playwright, poet, and vagabond bon vivant. Dennis wrote a beautiful tribute to fellow Texas playwright Sterling Houston who died November 8, 2006.

About Toby and Kip's successful long term relationship and the Wedding Cake Liberation Event in San Antonio, June 16, 2005

The Alamo Business Council was a social organization of gay & lesbian professionals in San Antonio. Toby & Kip were part of the original establishment of the group.

About Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, creator of modern gay consciousness. The firtst man to really "come out."

Bro. Martin McMurtrey, Toby's -- very influential and life-changing -- writing teacher in high school.

Kip Dollar & Toby Johnson participated with hundreds of other couples in a "group marriage ceremony" in front of the IRS Building during the Second March on Washington in 1987.

Eva Thayer, San Antonio wise woman, (Nov 21, 1914 - May 22, 2013) has a message for children of all ages about positive self-esteem. Read about Eva's Miracles. She led a wonderful life.

Kim McKell, Toby's favorite teacher at the California Institute of Asian Studies. Kim was an accomplished painter. She created a set of Tarot cards of the Major Arcana. Here are photographs of her cards.

Adolphine Carole, Toby's occasional housemate, friend, and wonderful meditation teacher.

Cliff Douglas was a cute and lovable gay man in Austin in the late 80s to mid-90s. He died of AIDS just before the drug cocktails came into use. Cliff can be credited with starting the South Congress -- SoCo District -- shopping area.

Novels & Books

The wonderful soft sci-fi Lambda Lit- and Spectrum-honored SECRET MATTER, in a new, updated, revised, and expanded edition for the 21st Century.

The romantic & evocative ghost story set in 1890s America GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE

The wisdom of A Course in Miracles applied to AIDS in a sci fi thriller -- reissued in 2012 under the name THE FOURTH QUILL

With Steve Berman, CHARMED LIVES: Gay Spirit in Storytelling, more than 30 authors about the "charm" of being gay

In collaboration with Walter L. Williams, TWO SPIRITS: A Story of Life With the Navajo, a beautiful, romantic novel about Native American gender and sexual patterns set in the Old West.

Toby Johnson was Walter Williams' editor for Spirit of the Pacific, a sweet romance set in Civil War times about an escaped slave's journey to freedom and happiness in the Pacific Islands culture of Hawaii.

Toby's non-fiction titles

are described on this page:

Finding God in the Sexual Underworld: The Journey Expanded

Finding Your Own True Myth: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell

Gay Spirituality: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness

Gay Perspective: Things Our [Homo]sexuality Tells Us About the Nature of God and the Universe

The Myth of the Great Secret: An Appreciation of Joseph Campbell (Celestial Arts, 1992)

In Search of God in the Sexual Underworld: A Mystical Journey (Morrow, 1983)

Several of Toby's O.P. or unavailable m.s.s. are available for free download.

A great influence on Toby Johnson's thought AND writing style is science fiction prophet, Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Here's a short article In Honor of Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Because Arthur C. Clarke was a gay man, there are meaningful themes in his books and writing. In 2016 a movie was made for TV of his novel Childhood's End. Toby Johnson comments on this movie AND what the novel was really about. Karellen was a homosexual

Books on Gay Spirituality:
White Crane Gay Spirituality Series

Book Reviews

Be Done on Earth by Howard E. Cook. Blending modern-day physics and cosmology, a little Teilhard and a little Matthew Fox, comparative religion, some Joseph Campbell, intelligent New Age thought, progressed Christianity, American political idealism, evolutionary theory, postmodernism, Pope John the Beloved calls for a new Church of the Second Coming--also referred to (iconoclastically) as the Church of Kingdom Come--COKC (try pronouncing the acronym). It’s a sex-positive religion based in an evolutionary model of human nature with an openly gay priesthood.

Pay Me What I'm Worth by Souldancer. Souldancer says he is blending good business practice with multicultural ancient wisdom. As the exercises continue, they demonstrate that giving is the way to get and that integrity and ethical living is the best success and the way to get paid by life with happiness and fulfillment. So the thing about asking for a raise is really a hook to pull you toward enightenment and wisdom.

The Way Out by Christopher Lee Nutter. Intermixing themes in current spiritual thought—the Dalai Lama, Joseph Campbell, Don Miguel Ruiz, Gary Zukav, A Course in Miracles, the Twelve Steps—Nutter offers an answer to who you really are. And in the process recounts how he came to understand this through his experience in urban gay culture. The answer, of course, isn’t new or surprising. It’s the age-old answer: we are each a perspective that “God” or “Divine Consciousness” or “the cosmos”—whatever you want to call IT—is taking on itself.

The Gay Disciple by John Henson. Gay consciousness is now part of human consciousness and naturally recapitulates Jesus’s teaching that love and compassion trump religion and law. It’s good that the Jesus story be written to include gay experience. The Life of Christ is an appropriate subset of gay literary genre.

Art That Dares by Kitt Cherry, presents erotic imagery based in Christian tradition. Cherry is the author of JESUS IN LOVE, a novelist "autobiography of Jesus" as sexually and psychologically sophisticated, a real "tour de force" in transforming traditional myth to modern consciousness.

The Dimensional Structure of Consciousness by Samuel Avery is a challenging and enlightening model of how consicousness generates the experience of the world. It was such a neat idea that I incorporated elements of it in my revised edition of SECRET MATTER.

A Bifurcation of Gay Spirituality: a review of Kennth Burr's Coming Out, Coming Home with a discussion of the difference between "spirituality & religion for gay people" and "Gay Spirituality" for gay people.

Extinguishing the Light by B. Alan Bourgeois is an allegorical account, a parable, set in a modern Texas prison, of the appearance of a Christ-like figure who reaches out to his fellow offenders with a visionary message of love.

Over Coffee: A conversation For Gay Partnership & Conservative Faith by D.a. Thompson is a conversation between a Conservative Christian Pastor and a Conservative Christian layman--the author, D.a.--who advocates for the acceptance of gay partnership within religious congregations. He makes different arguments from the usual pro-gay marriage ones because he is NOT a proponent of same sex marriage, but of fairness within Christian churches in how the human (sinful) condition is treated. Interesting!

Dark Knowledge by Kenneth Low is a life of Christ written as a mystery story/puzzle asking the question why was Jesus actually executed. What crime had he committed that was so heinous, it deserved crucifxion? Whether you'd agree with the biblical exegetical approach in this book or not, it is really interesting and informative.

Janet Planet by Eleanor Lerman is a wonderfully engaging and beautifully written roman à clef-style novel based on the real life characters surrounding Carlos Castenada and The Teachings of Don Juan.

The Jesus we never knew is presented in two interesting and entertaining books that offer insight into the real message of religion: The Kairos by Paul E. Hartman and Wrestling with Jesus by D.K.Maylor.

Kali Rising by Rudolph Ballentine is a very interesting book about the "Foundational Principles of Tantra," but it is far more than a book of Hindu mythology. It's about a whole approach to life based in maintaining balance.

The Missing Myth by Gilles Herrada examines the science and current psychological/philosophical ideas about the nature and origins of homosexuality.

The Secret of the Second Coming by Howard E. Cook calls for a rediscovery of the Gnostic Christianity that underlay Jesus' teachings. The Second Coming is here and now.

The Scar Letters: A Novel by Richard Alther is a sensitive, beautifully-written and ultimately moving and heartwarming account of a modern gay man coming to terms with personal pain and human suffering. A great read. Emotionally and literarily satisfying.

The Future is Queer edited by Richard Labonte & Lawrence Schimel is an anthology of science fiction short stories with interesting, occasionally unsettling, but always insightful predictions of a "queer" future.

Missing Mary by Charlene Spretnak, subititled The Queen of Heaven and Her Re-emergence in the Modern Church, is a partly scholarly, partly personal account of modern day Catholic devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Gay Spirituality 101: An Introduction to the Theory of Homophilia by Joe Perez astutely discusses the gay spirituality movement from the evolutionary persepctive of Ken Wilber.

Cut Hand: A Nineteeth Century Love Story on the American Frontier by Mark Wildyr is a sexy adventure novel about gay men and Native Americans in the Old West.

Radiomen by Eleanor Lerman is a story about the alluring mystery of life--all tied up with aliens, interstellar broadcasts, new age religion and a lovable little dog named Digitaria.

Nights at Rizzoli by Felice Picano is a memoir by a very successful and wonderful writer in the gay genre who worked at the New York upscale bookstore of the title.

Male Sexuality by Ken Stofft describes how gender role expectations confine and restrict so many men's joy and happiness.

The Key to Unlocking the Closet Door by Chelsea Griffo is an easy-to-read book of sensible advice for LGBTQ youth for how to take the next step.

The Door of the Heart by Diana Finfrock Farrar is a didactic novel about gay rights and traditional Christian values. It very well presents a range of issues from PFLAG, same-sex marriage, anti-gay bullying to organ donation and husband-wife relationship. And it's got a good story.

Occam’s Razor by David Duncan is a science-fiction novel from the 1950s. I reread it recently and discovered it's partly the basis for the metaphysical of parallel universes that appears in my novel Secret Matter.

Grace and Demion by Mel White is a part whimsical, part serious and profound fable about angels and demons and the struggle for truth about gay consciousness.

Gay Men and The New Way Forward by Raymond L. Rigoglioso is a wonderful book about the 14 Distinct Positive Contributing Traits of gay men.

The Dimensional Stucture of Consciousness by Samuel Avery is one of the neatest ideas I have ever come across. I think this explains what "reality" is.

The Manly Pursuit of Desire and Love: Your Guide to Life, Happiness and Emotional and Sexual Fulfillment in a Closed-Down World by Perry Brass is a collection of good advice and wisdom about life and love AND an all-encompassing theory of religion and myth as clues to the Deeper Self.

Love Together: Longtime Male Couples on Healthy Intimacy and Communication by Tim Clausen presents accounts of some twenty gay relationships lasting as long as 65 years. It's a wonderful demonstration of the strength of men's love and caring.

War Between Materialism and Spiritual by Jean-Michel Bitar is a partly whimsical, but earnest account of a philosophical quest to understand the meanings of "Materialism" and "Spiritualism" and where the supposed "war" comes from.

The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal discusses the outsider, external observer stance on myth and religion. A wonderful, if dense, read. A delightful chapter on the homoerotics of the story of Jesus.

Esalen: American and the Religion of No Religion by Jeffrey J. Kripal is a wonderful history of Esalen Institute, the "New Age" conference center on the West Coast. But it is so much more. It's a summary of the insights into religion and mythology that have changed America in the last half-century.

The Invitation to Love by Darren Pierre is a book of wise and sweet meditations or lessons about the nature of love and how to find love. Pierre is a gay, Black man; you can feel his sincerity and sensitivity in his writings.

Brain, Consciousness, and God: A Lonerganian Integration by Daniel A Helminiak is a challenging book, but well-worth the effort. It addresses the questions of how religious experience happens in the brain, and specifically the relation between mind and body.

A Walk with Four Spiritual Guides by Andrew Harvey offers personal and insightful glimpses of Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, and Ramakrishna.

Can Christians Be Saved? A Mystical Path to Oneness by Virginia T Stephenson & Buck A Rhodes PhD is a delightful blend of world religions to produce a modern, sensible mystical post-religious religion.

The Lost Secrets of the Ancient Mystery Schools by Virginia T Stephenson & Buck A Rhodes PhD is an example of the kind of mystical practices in their earlier book, Can Christians Be Saved, but applied specifically to pivotal events in the life of Jesus.

Keys to Spiritual Being: Energy Meditation and Synchronization Exercises by Adrian Ravarour gives instructions for becoming aware of subtle energy fields in the body and between individuals.

In Walt We Trust by John Marsh, is subtitled: How a Queer Social Poet Can Save America from Itself. What a great idea! Toby Johnson's review discusses the nature of internalized homophobia and projection.

Solomon's Tantric Song by Rollan McCleary derives a positive view of sex and eroticism from the Biblical book The Songs of Songs. There are several gay-positive discussions of homosexuallity.

A Special Illumination by Rollan McCleary surveys the Gay Spirituality Movement and efforts within established churches to accept gay people. Very wide-ranging book.

Aelred's Sin by Lawrence Scott is a sweet and touching novel featuring a young Benedictine novice discovering and coping with his homosexuality in the context of Catholic monastic life.

Fruit Basket: A Gay Man's Journey by Payam Ghassemlou is a dramatization in semi-fictional form of a developmental stage model for gay men's lives.

Internal Landscape s by John Ollom documents the noted choreographer's career and sets for his ideas for using dance and movement as access to the deep and mythic unconscious. A beautiful book just to look at and hold in your hand.

Princes & Pumpkins by David Hatfield Sparks is a book of poetry that spins autobiogrpahy into myth and symbol. The author is one of the important characters in the creation of gay/queer spirit and culture. With his partner Randy P. Conner, he produced Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol, and Spirit.

Yes by Brad Boney is a delightful novel about the fantasy of recapturing youth and the wisdom of choosing things just as they are.

Blood of the Goddess by William Schindler merges the European Vampire novel with Tantric mysticism and worship of the Goddess Kali into a novel full of ecstatic rapture and transcendetal wisdom.

Roads of Excess, Palaces of Wisdom by Jeffrey Kripal argues that the study of mysticism is itself a mystical practice. He cites the lives of five writers--and includes himself in a series of asides within the book--to demonstrate his point. Since at least two of his subjects were homosexual, there's a very interesting strain in this book about homoeroticism and spirituality.

Sanctity & Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints by Donald Boisvert offers wonderful observations about the nature of gay religiousness.

Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism, and the Next Generation of Enlightenment by Jay Michaelson is an inspiring account of this gay spiritual writer's practice of Buddhist meditation. It has one of the best discussions of queer theeory I;ve ever read.

Jesus in Salome's Lot by Brett W. Gillette is a decoding of the Christian Scriptures to discover deeper meanings behind the actual words and letters. The book certainly shows how to use the Bible like a crystal ball to stimulate intuition and inspiration.

The Man Who Loved Birds by Fenton Johnson is a beautiful and poignant novel. It's about sexual and emotional liberation, but it's also about the hardness that is in the heart of Man and anger with which those in authority sometimes treat those who don't give a whit about authority.

The Vatican Murders by Lucien Gregoire is an account of the mysterious death of Albino Luciani—Pope John Paul I—by a gay man who had a personal connection to the short-lived, but potentially revolutionary Pope.

"Sex Camp" by Brian McNaught was reviewed in White Crane Journal in 2005. This is a semi-fictionalized account of the sexual attitudes trainings McNaught is famous for teaching.

Out & About with Brewer & Berg Episode One: Searching for a New Mythology is a DVD/Streaming video "Travelogue" of spiritual sites in Europe with a uniquely gay male perspective.

The Soul Beneath the Skin by David Nimmons is a wonderful book, published in 2002, about gay men's cultures. This is a must-read for every gay man to understand the dimensions of gay consciousness.

Out on Holy Ground by Donald Boisvert is a series of meditations of gay spiritual consciousness. Particularly interesting is the discussion of male beauty.

The Revolutionary Psychology of Gay-Centeredness by Mitch Walker is a short monograph about Jungian themes in gay consciousness. The review links to numerous articles by Walker's students in Uranian Psychoanalysis and Gay-Centered Psychology.

Out There by Perry Brass, a collection of short stories--a little horror, a little supernatural, a little afterlife… neat!

The Crucifixion of Hyacinth by Geoff Puterbaugh is a study of ancient history tracing the rise of homophobia in human thought. Scholarly but readable.

The Silence of Sodom by Mark D Jordan is a classic about homosexuality and the Catholic Church. The beginning of the book is precious--What if the Holy Spirit reveals to the Vatican that they're wrong on homosexuality? Who would dare to share their revelation from God?

It's Never About What It's About by Krandall Kraus and Paul Borja is subtitled “What We Learned About Living While We Were Waiting to Die" is a wonderful book of wisdom that demonstrates the paradoxically positive consequences of AIDS in gay men's lives and collective cultures.

ReCREATIONS, edited by Catherine Lake is an anthology, mostly of Canadian writers, about queer perspectives on religion. As the title suggests, we are re-creating religion.

Gospel: A Novel by Wilton Barnhard is a WONDERFUL novel about the secret history of religion. It's about a "Lost Gospel" written by one of the Apostles which a modern Scripture scholar, wise man, and wild character believes in hidden somewhere and he is out to find it. This is one of the best books I have ever read.

Keeping Faith: A Skeptic’s Journey by Fenton Johnson is a beautifully written account of the spiritual quest and, particularly, the route through monastic life--both Trappist and Zen Buddhist.

Dating the Greek Gods by Brad Gooch is a whimsical but wise and insightful discussion of gay men's dating patterns from a Jungian, archetypal perspective.

Telling Truths in Church by Mark D. Jordan reveals the way religious language hides and confuses real morality and ethics.

The Substance of God by Perry Brass is a science fiction thriller with a religious/ mythological theme woven in, along with a little hot porn.

The Tomcat Chronicles by Jack Nichols is an entertaining memoir of one oif the pioneers of Gay Liberation and a wonderful example of finding true love (even though it was tragically lost). Jack Nichols, as a writer and magazine editor, helped create our modern ideas of what "gay" means.

10 Smart Things Gay Men Can Do to Improve Their Lives by Joe Kort is an excellent description of how we can live our gay lives to the full potential. Kort would be a very good personal psychotherapist; you can learn from him through the book.

Jesus and the Shamanic Tradition of Same Sex Love, Will Roscoe's classic interpretation of Jesus and the revolutionary idea of the love of equals.

The Third Appearance by Walter Starcke & The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann discuss the future of evolution, both mystically and ecologically.

Surviving and Thriving After a Life-Threatening Diagnosis by Bev Hall is a book by an experienced nurse who faced a threatening diagnosis herself. She shares wise insight.

Men, Homosexuality, and the Gods by Ronald E. Long is a scholarly analysis on the meaning of homosexuality in religion down through time--with a special focus on sex role playing. And An Interview with Ron Long

An Interview with Randy Conner about his and David Sparks' books and especially Queering Creole Spiritual Traditions. And a review of the book

Pain, Sex and Time by Gerald Heard who was an important figure in the 1940s & 50s in the development of what's now called New Age.

Sex and the Sacred by Daniel Helminiak includes 15 essays on religious and psychological issues that gay men and lesbian face.

Blessing Same-Sex Unions by Mark Jordan is a scholarly, but also whimsical and entertaining, study of marriage and marriage rites. It's even more useful in understanding these issues now that Marriage Equality has been recognized by the Supreme Court.

Rising Up by Joe Perez is a book in the form of a blog. Subtitled Reflections on Gay Culture, Politics and Spirit, this book is filled with interesting and provocative insights and commentaries.

Soulfully Gay by Joe Perez is a memoir/blog/spiritual autobiography. Perez is a disciple of Ken WIlber and writes in the context of Wilber's Integral Philosophy.

That Undeniable Longing by Mark Tedesco, an entertaining and interesting account of vocation to the priesthood and the problems it creates.

Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman, a review of the entertaining, light-hearted horror novel— along with a little history of White Crane Books and Lethe Press.

Wisdom for the Soul by Larry Chang is a 800+ page compedium of wise and winderful quotes. Inspiring. And gay-inclusive.

MM4M a DVD by Bruce Grether teaches methods for transforming masturbation into a spiritual discipline and developing high erotic states.

Double Cross by David Ranan is a scathing report on the Catholic Church and a call for major reform.

The Transcended Christian by Daniel Helminiak, the popular Dignity priest and philosopher/psychologist of religion and consciousness, who offers a positive way to understand Christianity.

Jesus in Love by Kittredge Cherry -- in two volumes -- is an autobiography of Jesus Christ. A remarkable novel, with Jesus as a sexually mature and aware modern individual.

In the Eye of the Storm by Gene Robinson, Foreword by Demond Tutu is about the transformations that gay awareness is forcing on religion and the churches—and for their own best good!

The Starry Dynamo by Sven Davisson is a collection of edgy stories and essays, with one of the best explanations of Michel Foucault I've ever read.

Life in Paradox by Fr Paul Murray is a novelistic autobiography by the first openly gay Catholic priest in the diocese of Washington DC.

Spirituality for Our Global Community by Daniel Helminiak is a Lonerganian explanation of religious by one of our best thinkers and spiritual writers.

Gay & Healthy in a Sick Society by Robert A. Minor is a collection of articles from the Kansas monthly LGBT Magazine. Minor is especially interested in how homophobia confuses and degrades society.

Coming Out: Irish Gay Experiences by Glen O'Brien, a collection of moving and authentic essays and stories about life in Ireland as gay.

Queering Christ by Robert Goss is a book of Queer Theology, illuminated by personal autobiographical stories by the author, a Catholic priest who moved beyond the Church to become a queer activist.

Skipping Towards Gomorrah by Dan Savage is an hilarious sendup of conventional morality in the interests of redefining and calling for real virtue in our modern world. Great fun!

The Flesh of the Word by Richard A Rosato, a novel avbout a gay man who develops the stigmata and can cure AIDS by his touch, a beautiful story.

Catland by David Garrett Izzo is a novel written in the form of a children's book about power and evil--and housecats the size of people, a delightful parable.

Tantra for Gay Men by Bruce Anderson is a wonderful introduction to a very complicated topic in the history of religions, along with a useful workbook for actual practice in the tantric tradition.

Yoga & the Path of the Urban Mystic by Darren Main is a wonderful summary of the principles of the spiritual life, told in the context of yoga and Hinduism, but applicable way beyond these specific traditions.

Simple Grace by Malcolm Boyd, a memoir organized around the life lessons Fr. Boyd learned and taught.

Seventy Times Seven by Salvatore Sapienza is a semi-autobiographical novel of a young man entering Catholic religious life and living through the growing pains of discovering his true self.

What Does "Queer" Mean Anyway? by Chris Bartlett is a simplified, but useful, primer about the meaning of the alphabet soup of LGBTQIA+ terminology, written by a non-gay man for non-gay people.

Critique of Patriarchal Reasoning by Arthur Evans is a history of the branch of philosophy called Logic by a major gay activist in the 1970s.

Gift of the Soul by Dale Colclasure & David Jensen is a book about self-discovery, including gay meaning, written inthe form of a novel.

Legend of the Raibow Warriors by Steven McFadden is a good book about ecological and spiritual change that doesn't include gay people, but should, in its vision of a transformed Earth.

The Liar's Prayer by Gregory Flood offers a vision of spirituality beyond myth and religion.

Lovely are the Messengers by Daniel Plasman is a heart-felt religious novel about how religion can inspire hate and prejudice even when the messengers don't intend it to.

The Human Core of Spirituality by Daniel Helminiak is a brilliant application of the ideas of Bernard Lonergan, Helminiak's teacher, to the nature of spirit and of human consciousness.

Religion and the Human Sciences by Daniel Helminiak is a companion to The Human Core of Spirituality. It includes a refutation of Ken Wilber.

3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke completes the Space Odyssey Triology with a peculiarly Buddhistic approach to the god-like beings who sent the Monolith in the first place.

Only the Good Parts by Daniel Curzon is interesting, educational and provocative epistolary novel about creating a gay family through artificial insemination. This review from 1998 is especially interesting because of its discussion of author self-publishing and the development of Print-on-Demand publishing.

Four Short Reviews of Books with a Message: High in the Andes: A Spiritual Adventure Novel by William Michael Kaufman; Planet of Darkness: A Spirit's Journey through time and matter to save his planet by Jerry Belvo; Where the Rainbow Ends by Jameson Currier; Every Man for Himself: A Novel of Love, Romance, and Finding Mr. Right by Orland Outland.

Life Interrupted by Michael Parise, subtittled "Taking Charge After Everything Has Changed," offers healing advice for dealing with aburpt and unexpetced change in one's life. Wirrten by a former priest and gay man who knows what he is talking about.

Confessions of a Murdered Pope by Lucien Gregoire is a collection of stories, the most important of which, the title story, is about the ideas of Pope John Paul I, as told by a fictional reincarnation of the pope who ruled only for 33 days before dying mysteriously.

The Stargazer's Embassy by Eleanor Lerman is a wonderfully eerie and evocative novel about allien abduction with several neat, and illuminating, twists in the popular notion.

Conscious Living, Conscious Aging by Ron Pevny is really supportive and helpful book in thinking about aging and considering the meaningfulness of your life. It's got good advice, intermixed with easy-to-relate-to anecdotes and personal stories.

Footprints Through the Desert by Joshua Kauffman is a account of a life-crisis of young adulthood about looking for love, finding love and then losing it when it all goes wrong. Interesting story. Good psychological anaysis.

True Religion by J.L. Weinberg is a horror novel about ghosts and witches in modern New England. But it's also about a gay man's spiritual insight into the nature of religion. Very nicely done.

The Mediterranean Universe by John Newmeyer is a book of humorous essays about cats as people.

Everything is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism by Jay Michaelson is a wonderful mystical treatise on oneness, emptiness, and the real nature of God told through a personal blending of Buddhism wisdom and Jewish Kabbalah.

Reflection by Dennis Merritt argues that everything in our experience is a "perfect reflection" of what is going on in our inner lives. It's a brilliant concept--something we all experience but seldom acknowledge like this.

Everywhere Home by Fenton Johnson is a collection of essays about modern life, some autobiographical, all beautifully written with very wise insight.

Hard Lesson by James Gaston is fast-paced murder mystery set in a private religious college where hypocrisy breeds crime and crime leads to death. AND it's got a sexy and sweet three-way right in the middle of the investigation.

God vs Gay? by Jay Michaelson makes "The Religious Case for Equality." Michaleson explains why religion ought to be pro-gay and welcoming of LGBTQ people. Very good book and very understandable explanation of hard-to-understand ideas in the Bible.

The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path by Jay Michaelson is a touching blend of personal soul-searching, poetical text, and wisdom teaching about how to accept the pain of being human that necessaily accompanies spiritual growth.

Roxie & Fred by Richard Alther is a novel sweet love story--a real life version of Harold and Maude but with senisible people, and lots of wisdom about experiencing life fully. A joy to read.

Not the Son He Expected by Tim Clausen is a collection of interviews with gay men about their relationships with their fathers. It's very interesting, and very healing.

The 9 Realities of Stardust by Bruce P. Grether is a beautiful and inspiring statement of spiritual wisdom explained in the worldivew of modern science. It's brilliant.

The Afterlife Revolution by Anne & Whitley Strieber is a remarkable account of love and death, and love surviving death, but also an important treatise on the nature of reality and the unexpected, but well-documented phenomena that UFOS and contact with the dead are interrelated.

AIDS Shaman: Queer Spirit Awakening by Shokti Lovestar is little book of poetry and wisdom by a London-based Radical Faerie English wiseman about how to understand AIDS mystically and spiritually, not as punishment but as opportunity and warning.

Facing the Truth of Your Life by Merle Yost is a book of truly "good advice" and explanantion of human psychological dynamics. It's interesting, readable, and quite educational.

The Super Natural: Why the Unexplained is Real by Whitley Strieber & Jeffrey J Kripal is a dialogue between THE expert on alien abductions and UFOs and a brilliant professor of comparative religions.

Secret Body by Jeffrey J Kripal takes up similar ideas of those in The Super Natural. Kripal argues that "paranormal phenomena," like hauntings, apparitions, clairvoyance, UFOs, alien abductions, etc—all demonstrate the existence of a greater reality. And it is from those kinds of experiences inthe past that the religions were born. A brilliant book.

In Hitler's House by Jonathan Lane is a fiictional memoir by a young man who tells of being Adolph Hitler's male whore. An amazing story. Surprisingly entertaining despite the subject matter. Hitler comes off worse than ever.

Walking on Glory by Edward Swift is a sweet, funny, poignant character of a crazy but lovable Texas lady.

The Paradox of Porn by Don Shewey is a wonderful statement of how to understand the modern phenomenon of sex videos positively and non-judgmentally.

Is Heaven for Real? by Lucien Gregoire debunks the popular story of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917.

Enigma by Lloyd Meeker is a detective novel with a wonderful dramatization of intuition and mystical insight. A neat combination of genres.

In Search of Lost Lives by Michael Goddart is a remarkable book about the spiritual practice of remembering past lives and "reliving" mystical and enlightenment experiences from previous lifetimes.

Queer Magic by Tomas Prower is a survey of LGBTQ+ themes in myth, religion, folklore and culture around the world. A wonderful revelation of gay characters in religions we are usually never told about.

God in Your Body by Jay Michaelson is a wonderful presentation of Jewish wisdom all focused on showing how the spiritual life has to be lived in a body. You can learn to include your body in your awareness of God. Wow! Beautiful read.

Science Whispering Spirit by Gary Preuss is a report on the kinds of paranormal experiences we all have of strange coincidences or intuitions from the divine blended nicely with the author's personal experiences, showing that all the strange phenomena point to a greater universe than we ordinarily realize.

Friends of Dorothy by Dee Michel reports on the phenomenon we all are familiar with that The Wizard of Oz holds a special fascination for gay men. The book includes a wonderful discussion of the nature of myth.

New by Whitley Strieber tells of the discovery of a new branch of intelligent beings in the jungles on Sumatra. It's a sweet and really mind-expanding sci-fi novel about alternative kinds of consciousness.

Developing Supersensible Perception by Shelli Renee Joye, a wide-ranging synthesis of theories about the nature of consciousness and the human ability to perceive consciousness itself from a higher perspective.

Sage Sapien by Johnson Chong is an autobiography of an Asian-American gay man discovering spirituality through acting class, intense meditation practice, and finding how to come out to his parents, and prove himself a worthwhile teacher.

Tarot of the Future by Arthur Rosengarten, an exploration of the history of Tarot and fortunetelling woven into modern concepts of space, time and personal psychology.

Brothers Across Time by Brad Boney, a novel with time travel, wistful romance, unexplained paradoxes , and satisfying happy endings all around.

Impresario of Castro Street by Marc Huestis is an entertaining, interesting, and sometimes moving account of the life of the well-known and accomlished gay filmmaker.

Deathless by Andrew Ramer, a wonderful retelling of the stories of the Torah and Biblical times the way things probably really happened, but with a positive spiritual message behind it all.

The Pagan Heart of the West, Vol 1 by Randy P. Conner is an encyclopedia of gods and sacred beings hidden from history, but now revealed.

Practical Tantra by William Schindler is about the routine daily religion of Tantric Hinduism without all the mumbo jumbo sometimes associated with the word Tantra.

The Flip by Jeffrey J. Kripal is a book about changing perspective to see that consciousness is bigger than just the human brain, and the world we all live in is just the surface of a greater "super natural" reality.

The Galilee Episode by Ronald Goetz explains that the mysterious verses in the New Testament about "one being taken and one being left" which are the basis of The Rapture myth are really about gay men and lesbians entrapped in a Pharisee-led moral crusade during Jesus's time.

A New World by Whitley Strieber is a book about UFOs, alien encounters, and glimpses into the afterlife; it's a book about the greater nature of consciousness.

Bernhard & LightWing by Damien Rowse describes a remarkable yogic-like meditation practice of holding another man chest to chest, belly to belly for prolonged periods of blending and sharing vital energy.

Stay Woke by Justin Michael Williams, an instruction book in mantra meditation addressed to a young, hip-hop generation with lots of good advice about how to fulfill one's life.

The Mountains of Paris by David Oates is a memoir blended into a discovery of French Art and Music, beautifully and evocatively written with a lovely spiritual-like lesson.

Trust Truth by Trudie Barreras tells the true story of a marriage in which the gay husband's sexuality is recognized and handled honestly and positively for both.

Bayard and Martin by Frederick Williams, Lane Denton, and G Sterling Zinsmeyer is an historical novel about the important friendship btween Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his gay lieutenant, Professor Bayard Rustin.

How to be an Excellent Human Being by Bill Meacham, a wonderful book that truly explains everything from the nature of reality to consciousness to how to live well and be happy the best and right way.

The Deviant's War by Eric Cervini is the story of Frank Kameny, the leader of Washington Mattachine, author of the phrase "Gay is Good," and legitimately worthy of being considered the Founder of the Gay Rights Movement. A very good book about very important history.

What Is the Grass by Mark Doty, a literary analysis of Walt Whitman's poetry, into which is beautifully blended a series of meditations and musings on the nature of sex, love, and especially the Self, with a capital S.

Sex with God by Suzanne DeWitt Hall is a book of meditations, some practical, some profound, on the spiritual side of sex and how to experience sex as spiritual.

The Sum of All the Pieces by Paul Bradford is a heartrending but ultimately uplifting account of an older gay man's struggle to be true to himself in spite of horrendous odds.

Clobber the Passages by Mel White reports on the damage the anti-gay interpretation of Bible verses can do to real people—with advice about to to protect yourself from such beliefs.

All the Time in the World by J. Lee Graham is a delightful Young Adult novel with a time travel plot and some interesting "rules" for time traveling.

Jonas and the Mountain by Janis Harper is a book of spiritual wisdom and a romance novel with appealing characters and a lovely plot.

Two Hearts Dancing by Eli Andrew Ramer, a book of self-generated myths and imaginative writings about gay/queer consciousness.

Where's My Pizza? by Larry Armstead II offers techniques for changing how you think about the world so that what you expect can manifest itself.

A New Now by Michael Goddart is a book of seriously good advice/wisdom about how to think about your experience, your life, and yourself.

Heavenly Homos, Etc by Jan Haen is a presentation in comic book form of LGBTQ people in history whom history and the Church considered heroes and saints.

The Erotic Contemplative by Michael Bernard Kelly recounts the stages of homosexual psychospiritual maturation in the terms of the traditional Catholic mystical life.

Our Time: San Francisco in the ’70s by Chuck Forester is a fun romp through the good old days and a roman à clef about the S.F. Public Library James C Hormel LGBTQIA Collection with an important insight about the role of gay genre literature in the movement.

Queer God de Amor by Miguel H. Diaz queers the mysticism of St John of the Cross by taking seriously the sexual imagery in the poet/monk's writings.

I Came Here Seeking a Person by William Glenn is a book of autobiographical chapters on significant spiritual events in this devout gay Christian's life journey.

Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood by John D'Emilio is a lovely and entertaining and enlightening memoir of the notable historian of gay culture.

Scissors, Paper, Rock by Fenton Johnson is a poignant and beautiful and satisfying novel of life and death and the modernizing of America.

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