Volume 27, Number 7
Serving the Carolinas For Over 25 Years!
March 31,2006
I did not realize that the nearby branch of the
Chicago Public library has a special collection of
gay and lesbianbooks Until one day a year or two
ago when I was looking for Gertrude Stein's
entertaining Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,
which I am embarrassed to say I had never read.
The librarian directed me to the gay book sec
tion and there was Alice — along with about 750
-800 other books on gay sexuality, gay history,
coming out gay travel gays and religion, health
and ADDS issues, gay athletes, religion, gays and
the military, and 200-300 novels and light fiction
And the books get used; Some patrons use
are interested in; others i— as with me and Alice
—to read a classic by a gay or lesbian author; stu
dents use it for researching class projects and
term papers.
Libraries are one of the obvious places a moth
er would go to find information atxmt a son who
just came out to her; or a boy beginning to dis
cover that he is gay, or a lesbian couple wanting
story books to read to their children about other
families with two mommies or two daddies.
Yes, the Internet exists. But search under , "les
bian" oar "gay teen" and see how many pages you
get And it is unselective: There is accurate infor
mation along with misinformation and repellent
calumnies. Then too, a lot of fine, older material is
not on the Internet at all And books usually pro
vide more sustained analysis and supportive,
documentation than the typical website.
I also learned that die library accepts book
donations to supplement its collection. I decided
to test this. I had an extra copy of Steven O.
Murray's anthropological survey Homosexualities.
, So I took it in and presented it to Patrick Coniere,
who created and curates the collection. Could it
be added to the collection? but of course, said
Corriere. ~ ^ i
^ Since die main library downtown also had a
copy, already catalogued, Coniere was able to
use that catalog number; type up a label and enter
the book into the computerized catalog. Within
15 minutes it was on the shelf.
Impressed, I tried another book. I asked Prof.
continued on page 10
Spring Book Special!
' By Jesse Monteagudo
Contributing Writer
Secrets Of A Gay Marine Pom
Star. A Memoir by Rich Merritt;
Kensington Books; 468 pages;
$15.00.
Rich Merritt was bom in 1967 in
Greenville, South Carolina. In
1973, his parents enrolled him at
Bob Jones Elementary School, the
c u. u v a i i u i i a i
"Fortress of
Fundamentalism."
Merritt finished Bob
Jones Elementary
and went on to Bob
Jones High School
;,. and. „ , Boh Jones
University but was
expelled before he
got his university
degree. After he got
a degree from
Qemson University,
Merritt joined the
United States
Marine Corps,
where he rose to the
rank of captain.
* Unbeknownst to his
superiors. Captain
5. Merritt^ by this time an active gay
man, supplemented his income for
a while by appearing in male adult
films under the name of "Danny
Orlis" (which Merritt stole from
the hero of a series of Christian
boys' books). In 1998, Merritt
caused a sensation when he came
out in a New York Times Magazine
cover story about gay Marines.
Even worse (for Merritt), The
Advocate dug up Merritt's pom
past and exposed it. Having left
the Marines (with an honorable
discharge), Merritt's life took a
| wrong turn as he descended into a
tailspin of circuit parties, drugs
and alcohol, only to eventually
recover and begin a new career as
a lawyer—and as the author of his
published memoirs.
Such is the gist of Secrets of a Gay
Marine Pom Star, a memoir by Rich
Menitt. Of course no paragraph
could adequately tell Rich
Merritt's eventful life story; though
Merritt does overdo it a bit by
extending it to almost 500 pages.
But while Merritt's Secrets might
get ponderous towards the end, on
the whole his is a captivating story.
He who began as the Southern
cnnsnan ver
sion of "the
best little boy
in the world"
ended up as
every
fundie' $
nightmare: a
gay man,
who served
in the U.S^
military while
living a life of
drugs, alco
h o 1 ,
promiscuity,
prostitution
and pornog
raphy. If
this is not
enough to
give Jerry
Falwell a
heart
attack, I
don't know
turned tricks or had sex in front of
a camera. That The Advocate made
a big issue out Merritt's "youthful
indiscretions" is hypocritical, since
The Advocate owes its financial sol
vency to gay pom and its sub
sidiaries (e.g. Men magazine).
Merritt didn't help matters much
by neglecting to tell the Times
reporter about his peccadillos.
More recently, Rich Merritt, Esq.
lost his job in a prestigious Atlanta
law firm, not because he is gay but
because he wrote a book (this one)
that detailed his sordid past.
Merritt survived his Atlanta lam.
firm experience, just as hlPsu?
vived every other incident in his
storied past. Merritt spent the last
few months promoting Secrets of a
Gay Marine Pom Star, as well as
maintaining his Web site (richmer
ritt.com). Though Rich Merritt is
not everyone's idea of a role
model, his is a story that's worth
reading, if only to keep from mak
ing some of the mistakes that he
indue. Aumire mm or
3? not, Merritt can tell a
ff good story; and Secrets of
■ a Gay Marine Pom Star is
I the most interesting gay
' memoir that I have read
since Alan Helms's Young
Man from the Provinces. Not
yet 40 years of age, Merritt
still has years of experience
and achievements ahead of
um. Perhaps he will write
bout them some day.
ut Of The Past Gay And
sbian History From 1869 To
Wild l
Lesbian and gay activists were
also disappointed by Merritt's
spotty past. While they were ini
tially delighted by the revelation
that a decorated captain in the
United States Marine Corps was
secretly a gay man, they weren't
too happy when they learned that
their model Marine had once
ine rresaif, isevisea ana
Updated, by Neil Miller; Alyson
Books; 678 pages; $18.95.
In 1976, when the first historical
surveys of homosexuality
appeared — Gay American History
by Jonathan Ned Katz and Sexual
Variance In Society and History by
Vem L. Bullough — homophile
continued on page 7