An honest and poignant look into the deeply intimate yet platonic relationship between a gay English teacher and his young female protégée—each seeking connection and acceptance—as reflected by the decade of letters they exchanged. It was an improbable relationship from the start—a high school English teacher, still in the closet, and his best student. From the confines—and protection—of his closet, Amy’s teacher wrote these letters, letters that were read, cherished, answered, and then locked away for years. Now Amy looks back at the decade of intimate letters that preceded her teacher’s untimely death, collects the shards left by their clumsy, sometimes violent attempts to unmask each other, and counts again the cost of knowing and being known. Every writer needs a room of his own, but for some people, at certain times, and in certain circumstances, the best you can do is a closet. Timely and relevant, this is a love story of the most contemporary kind, a rare glimpse into an intimate relationship between teacher and student—a relationship whose effects are still being felt decades later. It’s raw and honest and moving, a poignant commentary on the values that unite us all.

Fictional characters who communicate the "coming out" experience through postcards, letters, and journal entries.

An honest and poignant look into the deeply intimate yet platonic relationship between a gay English teacher and his young female protge-each seeking connection and acceptance - as reflected by the decade of letters they exchanged. It's Tuesdays with Morrie- if Morrie were young and gay and Mitch Albom were a woman. Every writer needs a room of his own, but for some people, at certain times and in certain circumstances, the best you can do is a closet. From the confines of his closet, John wrote letters that were read, cherished and then locked away for decades.

Even after a rise in gay and Black representation and production on TV in the 1990s, the sitcom became a "generic closet," restricting Black gay characters with narrative tropes. Drawing from 20 interviews with credited episode writers, key show-runners, and Black gay men, The Generic Closet situates Black-cast sitcoms as a unique genre that uses Black gay characters in service of the series' heterosexual main cast. Alfred L. Martin, Jr., argues that the Black community is considered to be antigay due to misrepresentation by shows that aired during the family viewing hour and that were written for the imagined, "traditional" Black family. Martin considers audience reception, industrial production practices, and authorship to unpack the claim that Black gay characters are written into Black-cast sitcoms such as Moesha, Good News, and Let's Stay Together in order to closet Black gayness. By exploring how systems of power produce ideologies about Black gayness, The Generic Closet deconstructs the concept of a monolithic Black audience and investigates whether this generic closet still exists.

A series of essays concerning the Gay Liberation Movement, from individuals and groups associated with the movement.

A voyeuristic look at modern romance brings together an assortment of actual love letters, written by a diverse cross section of people, that appear exactly as they were originally written, offering candid insights into how people think about love.

Three young women embark on adventures of the heart during WWII in this sweeping romance by the New York Times bestselling author of Sold on a Monday. Chicago, 1944. Set to marry her childhood sweetheart, Liz Stephens has no interest in attending the USO club dance. But her friends Betty and Julia insist on bringing her along—and Liz gets a glimpse of Morgan McClain. Even though their brief exchange is cut short by the soldier's evident interest in Betty, Liz can't forget him. So when Betty asks her to ghostwrite a letter to Morgan, stationed overseas, Liz reluctantly agrees. Thousands of miles away, Morgan struggles to adjust to the brutality of war. His letters from "Betty" are a comfort, and they begin a soul-baring correspondence. While Liz is torn by her feelings for a man who doesn't know her true identity, Betty and Julia each become immersed in their own romantic entanglements. And as the war draws to a close, all three will face heart-wrenching choices, painful losses, and the bittersweet joy of new beginnings. Beautifully rendered and deeply moving, Letters from Home is a story of hope and connection, of sacrifices made in love and war—and the chance encounters that change us forever.