Writing and Publishing with an LGBTQ twist
I’ve now completed my series on LGBTQ Genealogy and LGBTQ Genealogy and Software. What do I blog about next? I’m open to your suggestions. I’m considering writing about writing. What has been my process for taking all the facts and records of a person’s life and crafting them into a narrative? I think the narrative is the end goal of all genealogy.
Before I die, I want to leave my narrative, written and cited for future generations. I don’t want my potential descendants to have to hunt and gather together my scattered documents to reconstruct my life. I’m leaving them all the documents they would need and a written autobiography. This way there will be no mysteries on who I was, what motivated my decisions, and there will be no misinterpretations of my complex family constellation.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if all our ancestors had done the same?! But then where’s the fun of genealogy sleuthing?
While I ponder how to blog on writing, I like you to read about other LGBTQ publishing. David Fernbach is a friend of ours and he’s written a bit of his own narrative with this piece called “A Short History of Gay Men’s Press.” David and his husband Aubrey Walter were the founders of the pioneering Gay Men’s Press (GMP) in 1979 in London.
GMP Publishing grew from the interest in providing relevant LGBTQ history and content. It published over 300 titles in its lifetime. Margaret Thatcher brought publicity to GMP by denouncing one of their books as gay propaganda, Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin. GMP survived through the AIDS crisis, the tribulation of running a small business, and political attacks. They have made a tremendous contribution to the body of queer literature, art, and scholarship.
