Portrait of a man, the beginning — Thanks for coming to see me. Nobody really does anymore. I get it, they’re busy. Plus I smell so bad, I make myself sick. Gross, right? And sometimes when I look in the mirror, I wanna heave. They call me Brad. It’s really Broderick, but I always hated that name. So keep it to yourself, huh? …

On tears and rejecting harmful belief systems — I cried as I fell asleep — My own fault, really. I shouldn’t have been reading Braden’s Story by Mason Dodd. As an aspiring author of LGBTQ YA fiction, I read a lot. Knowing my genre is part of the job. This one knocked me for a loop.

Meet the gang, have an eggnog or two, and enjoy Tuesday — Festivus for the rest of us? Sorry for being totally unoriginal, but I used to love going to (and throwing) Festivus parties in Detroit with friends from all over the world. I’d love to do that with Prism & Pen! …

Prism & Pen Digest, link redirect — Dear P&P readers, we’re still having trouble with our weekly newsletter, so I’m removing tags from the main email to this separate story with a link. To read this week’s Prism & Pen newsletter with brief summaries of our stories, please click here. Taxpayer-Funded Attack on Lesbian Couple, Queer Lives, and Holiday Cheer Prism & Pen Weekly — December 3 , 2023.medium.com

Prism & Pen Weekly — December 3 , 2023. — by James Finn A taxpayer-funded school in Wisconsin tries to destroy a lesbian couple’s university plans as the nation shrugs. A Moms for Liberty founder has been hiding queer secrets about herself while her anti-LGBTQ hate group tries to ban Scholastic Book fairs in Oklahoma. We offer those news stories…

Segregation academies are nothing new, but taxpayer support for them is both new and disturbing — Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is launching an ambitious effort to take school choice statewide on Tuesday, and he’ll have some company for the announcement in Nashville. With Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in tow, along with supportive legislators and families, Lee is announcing the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, which…

Prism & Pen Digest, link redirect — Dear P&P readers, we’re still having trouble with our weekly newsletter, so I’m removing tags from the main email to this separate story with a link. To read this week’s Prism & Pen newsletter with brief summaries of our stories, please click here. Queer Holidays, Curve Magazine, Trans Life, and a Gay Bear Shakes Up Art Prism & Pen Weekly — Nov 26, 2023.medium.com

Prism & Pen Weekly — Nov 26, 2023. — by James Finn The holidays are here, and at Prism & Pen we’re already focusing on the ups and downs. Want to write about it? Please see our prompt, Do You Have Queer Holiday (Coping) Plans? This edition isn’t all tinsel and turkeys, though. What’s it like to intern at…

Even though I’m an atheist and I try hard not to let Christmas be commercial — Did you hear that U.S. retailer Target is under fire again for reaching out to diverse customers? Last summer, a similar firestorm broke out over Target’s Pride product line, offered to LGBTQ customers who might wish to inject some good-ole American retail therapy into traditional marches and celebrations. (Because nothing…