Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

May 17, 2014 by Elin Gregory

We only do this hop once a year and it can be great fun going from blog to blog to read the posts and see what the authors, bloggers, reviewers and presses are offering to their guests. I know it’s the one post a year when I can count on getting some visitors – Hi guys – but really once a year isn’t enough.

For some folk every day is a battle to be accepted for what they are. For some folk winning that battle is an uphill struggle against horrible odds. We should never forget that and we should do all we can to celebrate human kind in all its wonderful diversity.

If you would like to do this you can click on the picture above to be taken to the HAHAT blog and see all the other bloggers who will be commenting this week or you can go and contribute something at the official Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia site. If you use Twitter lets see if we can get #HAHAT trending.

Usually on a Saturday I take the opportunity to gush about a book that I have read recently that has pleased me a lot. Today I’ve decided to go through my book files and mention some of the books featuring trans characters that I particularly enjoyed reading.

Portside by Elyan Smith

Blurb: Life on the dole in a dying town is defined by drinking when you can, smoking to pass the time, and, if you’re gay, going down to the barracks at the old port to get some. Iwan’s got the cigarettes and the booze down pat, but he lacks experience, so he sticks to online porn and watching the lads portside.

Everyone else seems to have learned how to get what they want, yet Iwan can’t get past everything that could go wrong. He knows who he is, regardless of labels. But no matter how often his best friend tells him to just go for it, he doesn’t trust others to see past his mismatched body.

Paying for what he’s afraid to get for free may seem absurd, but it’s better than just watching, and it’s better than porn. It may not change the world he lives in, but with luck, it will change him.

This novella about Iwan, trapped with no job and no prospects blew me away when it first came out. I’ve been looking forward to more work from this very promising author but I understand that he’s working on a PhD and we’ll have to wait. Good luck with the studies, Elyan, and please write more soon.

The City War by Sam Starbuck

Blurb:
Senator Marcus Brutus has spent his life serving Rome, but it’s difficult to be a patriot when the Republic, barely recovered from a civil war, is under threat by its own leader. Brutus’s one retreat is his country home, where he steals a few precious days now and then with Cassius, his brother-in-law and fellow soldier—and the one he loves above all others. But the sickness at the heart of Rome is spreading, and even Brutus’s nights with Cassius can’t erase the knowledge that Gaius Julius Caesar is slowly becoming a tyrant.

Cassius fears both Caesar’s intentions and Brutus’s interest in Tiresias, the villa’s newest servant. Tiresias claims to be the orphaned son of a minor noble, but his secrets run deeper, and only Brutus knows them all. Cassius, intent on protecting the Republic and his claim to Brutus, proposes a dangerous conspiracy to assassinate Caesar. After all, if Brutus—loved and respected by all—supports it, it’s not murder, just politics.

Now Brutus must return to Rome and choose: not only between Cassius and Tiresias, but between preserving the fragile status quo of Rome and killing a man who would be Emperor.

I’ve been reading Sam Starbuck’s work for well over ten years and have been delighted by it on many occasions, but this is one of his best. Displaying a quirky knowledge of the history of the time, Sam takes well known events and puts a new spin on them while adding a tender, bitter-sweet love story.

Never forget that just as gay and lesbian people have always been there, hidden away in our pasts, often fearing to be discovered, so have trans people. Some passed almost unremarked, others took centre stage. Look at the life of James Barry, Inspector-General of Hospitals for the British Army, who worked tirelessly to improve the lot of soldiers and their families all over the British empire.

The Invisibles by Zia Jaffrey
Blurb:
In this superb work of investigative reporting, Zia Jaffrey pursues the riddle of India’s most elusive subculture, the cross-dressing and often-castrated figures known as “hijras” whose very name means neither male nor female. Are the hijras lucky or dangerous? Are they a nurturing community of outcasts or a criminal network that kidnaps and mutilates recruits? Do they number in the thousands or in the millions? As she talks with policemen, a unionizer of eunuchs, and with the hijras themselves, Jaffrey unravels veils of rumor and deception to locate the nature of our sexual and social thresholds, and the people who dwell on them. Deeply resonant, uniquely insightful, The Invisibles is an enthralling work.

This one isn’t fiction – sorry but I like non-fiction – and while reading it I got the impression that the author was trying to be a bit sensational, but it’s still a very compelling read and, moreover, shows a completely different way of life and different set of opportunities open to and prejudices faced by people who aren’t happy with the gender assigned to them at birth, while reinforcing the importance of being able to express what one feels to be true about oneself, in whatever culture one inhabits. I found it by turns enlightening and heartbreaking.

~~~

Prize? Naturally. Comment below for a $5 Amazon voucher and I will make my usual donation to the Albert Kennedy Trust.

Click here to go back to the blog hop

Posted in Uncategorized | 43 Comments

43 Responses

on May 17, 2014 at 8:10 am | Reply Lee Todd

please count me in

leetee2007@hotmail.com
- on May 19, 2014 at 11:44 am | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  You’re on the list, Lee. thanks for commenting. 🙂
on May 17, 2014 at 11:35 am | Reply Kathryn Laprade

This is very moving for me. Just lost my sister who was a lesbian. I miss her so much. She and her partner were not allowed to get married in our state which broke my heart. Love is love, that’s it plain and simple. No matter what people said to her about being with someone of the same sex she proudly held her head up. She was a great inspiration to all of us. This is a wonderful blog post and hop ❤
kittyissweet@gmail.com
- on May 19, 2014 at 11:45 am | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  She sounds like a wonderful lady, Kathryn. Thanks for commenting.
on May 17, 2014 at 11:41 am | Reply Barbra

I’ll have to look up your recommendations on Amazon. Thanks.
aelnova@aol.com
on May 17, 2014 at 12:32 pm | Reply Cherie Noel

Elin, great post. I too will be looking up your recommendations, and I have two for you, both by one of my absolute fave authors. Static, and The Left Hand of Calvus, both by L.A Whitt. She’s an amazing author, and these books, one set in a contemporary alternate universe, and one in a historical Roman setting are simply amazing. Hope you enjoy them.
- on May 17, 2014 at 12:54 pm | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  Thank you cherie. 🙂 Left Hand of Calvus is a favourite. I tossed a coin for a mention and Sam won. Thanks for the rec for Static. It’s on my TBR list so I’ll move it closer to the top.
on May 17, 2014 at 12:48 pm | Reply Jen CW

Thank you for your post and for being part of such a wonderful blog hop. I have not read any of these books before; thank you for the recommendations.

jczlapin(at)gmail(dot)com
on May 17, 2014 at 12:54 pm | Reply jessielansdel

Ah….more books for my list. Great post, Elin. 😎
- on May 17, 2014 at 12:56 pm | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  Thanks sweetie.
  
  Eeeeee see you in 3 weeks.
  - on May 17, 2014 at 1:03 pm jessielansdel
    
    Aye, it’s getting close. See you then, babes.
on May 17, 2014 at 3:49 pm | Reply Hop Against Homophobia ~ May 17th – May 24th | Jolynn Raymond's Dark Obsessions

[…] Elin Gregory (M/M) […]
on May 17, 2014 at 6:33 pm | Reply Cathy Brockman

what a great cause! cathvbrockmanromance@gmail.com
on May 17, 2014 at 8:31 pm | Reply Sue

Hey Elin – I’ll have to check these out 🙂
- on May 19, 2014 at 11:48 am | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  They are really good, Sue. Portside is quite short but poignant. The City War is familiar ground – we all did Julius Caesar at school – but takes a very interesting and historically accurate look at Roman life. I hope you enjoy them.
on May 17, 2014 at 9:09 pm | Reply Rod B

Count me in!
rockybatt@gmail.com
on May 18, 2014 at 2:33 am | Reply Trix

I have PORTSIDE on my Kindle, and need to read it in earnest! The others sound excellent, too…

vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
on May 18, 2014 at 7:17 am | Reply Alaina

Great post! I have not heard of any of these books so I will totally have to look into them!
aegger.echo @ yahoo .com
on May 18, 2014 at 2:45 pm | Reply Ray

Since I have seen such men who struggled each day for establishing their identity just because they are a little different (until death) I am really moved by your blog post, especially by your thoughts here in this paragraph “For some folk every day is a battle to be accepted for what they are. For some folk winning that battle is an uphill struggle against horrible odds. We should never forget that and we should do all we can to celebrate human kind in all its wonderful diversity.”

Thanks for donating. 🙂
- on May 19, 2014 at 11:54 am | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  Thanks for commenting Ray. Straight cisgendered allies can sympathise but we can never know what it’s really like.
on May 18, 2014 at 6:55 pm | Reply DebraG

Great post. My daughter and I appreciate this hop so much.
debby236 at gmail dot com
- on May 19, 2014 at 12:06 pm | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  Thanks for commenting Debbie 🙂
on May 18, 2014 at 8:31 pm | Reply Andrew J. Peters

Hi Elin!

You are right, this Hop is a great time of the year, like Christmas kind of; but too bad it can’t be sustained every day. There is definitely a need to raise our voices against the terrible injustices against LGBTs that continue, and for me, the Hop is equally a celebration for us authors who love this community and LGBT literature. 🙂
- on May 19, 2014 at 12:13 pm | Reply Elin Gregory
  
  Nicely said, Andrew. I’m very aware that much as I might sympathise I can never truly know what it’s like to face discrimination day after day. That makes me both grateful, that I don’t, and sad that others do.
  
  Fingers crossed that even something as simple as writing books with LGBT protagonists who are brave and competent and loving will help reduce the fear and intolerance of people who are basically just ignorant. The truly evil will need to be addressed separately.
on May 19, 2014 at 11:31 am | Reply Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia | ScuttlebuttReviews

[…] Elin Gregory (M/M) […]
on May 20, 2014 at 6:00 am | Reply H.B.

Thank you for participating in the blog hop. I haven’t read any of your books yet or the ones you featured in your post. I’ll be giving them a look over in my free time. Thank for the rec’s.
on May 20, 2014 at 5:02 pm | Reply lenagrey

Thanks for participating, Elin! lena.grey.iam@gmail.com
on May 20, 2014 at 5:13 pm | Reply Rissa

Thanks for being a part of the hop!!
raynman1979(at)yahoo(dot)com
on May 21, 2014 at 6:29 am | Reply bn100

Nice of you to share and participate

bn100candg at hotmail dot com
on May 21, 2014 at 7:22 am | Reply Not Quite Shakespeare – Annabelle Jacobs | Elin Gregory

[…] in case you are looking for the Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia post please click here You can still comment for a chance to win a gift card until 24th […]
on May 21, 2014 at 9:49 am | Reply KymD

Ahhh!!! My TBR list just got longer!! Which is very okay!
on May 21, 2014 at 8:10 pm | Reply Cornelia

Thanks for the hop.
on May 21, 2014 at 8:39 pm | Reply Anastasia Vitsky

A few other people have said how nice it would be not to need this kind of event. I agree, but while we need it, let’s enjoy it! 🙂 Thank you for all that you do for the community.
on May 21, 2014 at 11:35 pm | Reply Caddy Rowland

Thanks for the post and for being part of the hop. I’m enjoying the posts.
on May 22, 2014 at 12:33 am | Reply michelle

Thanks for the post – more books for the TBR list. 🙂
MHupp20032003(at)yahoo(dot)com
on May 22, 2014 at 6:57 am | Reply Penumbra

This is my favorite hop. Thanks for participating 🙂

penumbrareads(at)gmail(dot)com
on May 22, 2014 at 9:21 pm | Reply stella

thanks for the post and for the recommendations I’ll put on my TBR
cvale1@virgilio.it
on May 23, 2014 at 4:33 am | Reply Juliana

Thank you for participating and for the recommendations.
OceanAkers @ aol.com
on May 23, 2014 at 4:45 pm | Reply KimberlyFDR

Thanks for taking part in the hop!

kimberlyFDR@yahoo.com
on May 23, 2014 at 6:10 pm | Reply Andrew Ashling

Thanks for joining us, Elyan. 🙂
on May 24, 2014 at 12:19 pm | Reply Wendy H

Thank you for posting and for the chance to enter! wendynjason04@gmail.com
on May 24, 2014 at 2:00 pm | Reply sherry1969

I enjoyed your post. Thanks for being part of the hop.
sstrode at scrtc dot com
on May 24, 2014 at 9:48 pm | Reply K-lee Klein

This was a fabulous post and I’m definitely going to check out these books, especially The City War because I have a special place in my heart for Rome and Greece and gladiators and emperors from the time period. Thanks for joining us this year on the HAHAT. *hugs*