Sunday, April 6, 2014

#LGBTMonth! My first two favorite LGBT movies have a story behind them!

Fighting Dreamer

LGBT Month is hosted by Laura @ Laura Plus Books and Cayce @ Fighting Dreamer.  It runs throughout the month of April and it's here to celebrate LGBT+ readers, LGBT+ authors and of course LGBT+ books.

I wanted to share a little story with you all...I was in college, living off campus with a girl from my art history class. I barely knew her, but one day in class she gave me a sideways look and said, "Hey, you're a transfer student, right?" I nodded. "How do you like the dorms?"

"They just had a meeting about how messy I am. The whole dorm."

"Want to get an apartment together?" We introduced ourselves and a month later found the crappiest, cheapest apartment a mile from campus.

Shortly after moving in, she spent days sleeping and crying and shuffling her feet over our suspect carpet. Deciding this wasn't typical behavior for her, I asked her what was wrong. She didn't want to talk about it. I convinced her I was outside her circle, so I didn't really matter and she could tell me.

She stood there with her hands dropped to her sides, her pajamas ready to walk themselves to the laundromat, and her arty cute hair too oily to be called arty or cute. In a whine almost like a kid complaining, she said, "I'm a lesbian. No one knows. I barely know. I've never even kissed a girl. I don't even know any lesbians."

I jumped to my feet, scaring the tar out of her. "Well, we gotta get you a girlfriend!" She sniffle laughed and I started pacing our empty living room. We had two chairs. No TV. No table. We were pretty sad.

"I don't even know how to be a lesbian."

"Then we get out there and you learn to be the best damn lesbian ever!" She cheered. I cheered. What can I say? We were two over achieving art students.

"There is a dance tonight." I promised to be her wingman. She promised to be social. It was the shittiest dance ever. I'm not sure it was even a dance, just some lame politically correct social gathering with three or four people milling around the snack table.

We hit cool clubs in Seattle, concerts and festivals all over the Pacific Northwest, the video store for movies...Ack! Early independent movies were very artsy. A few times she worried people would assume I was gay. I told her I didn't give a shit about that because I didn't. See, I needed her as much as she needed me. This perfect lesbian quest occurred at one of my lowest points. I was a bit broken, extremely homesick, and very close to quitting school. So close to quitting I did quit. I cancelled my registration for the next semester (without telling anyone).

I never managed to get her a girlfriend. She hopped online and discovered chat rooms, but we did see Indigo Girls (more than once), Ani DiFranco, and Catie Curtis. She filled me in on all the celebrities that were gay but didn't know it. We saw two amazing movies (out of a slew of movies) that remain favorites to this day. She fell in love with a woman she met in an Indigo Girls chat room. I cancelled my cancelled registration. We made it through that time. Aside from her supernatural ability to be messy, we were night and day from each other. But we pulled together. And we made it through that time.

My first two favorite LGBT movies are Beautiful Thing and The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love.


Do check out these movies. Teens finding love, fighting love, fighting the world together. Throughout the month I'll be posting more movie love. I have designs on reading Gemini Bites by Patrick Ryan and I just learned I won Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Yay!! I'll share those reads with you too!


You can sign up through April. We'd love to have you join us! Just click on the cool picture.





11 comments:

  1. Thank you sharing your story, Robyn! You made me tear up a bit :)
    And I made a note to check out the films you rec'd .

    Congrats on winning Ari&Dante! Hope you'll enjoy it! :)

    Btw, you should add you post to the link collection so others can find it (more easily)
    http://nijiclovers.blogspot.com/2014/04/lgbt-month-kick-offgiveaway-2014-ya.html

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  2. Thanks for the link! I just added the post. I hope you get a chance to check out those movies. I still think about them and it's been ages since I saw them.

    Oh, and I'm so psyched to read Art&Dante! I voted for that one!! Thanks fro stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful week!

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  3. I love reading your stories, Robyn. You surprise me every time and you make me want to know more. I love visiting your blog. :)

    Thanks for sharing!

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    1. That's so nice, Athina! You know I love diving into your posts. I'm still thinking on your latest wandering souls post. I'm sure I'm a fumbling new soul, but I had a best friend in grade school who had to have lived through the ages. Happy flying!

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  4. WOW, you were truly awesome when you were in college, already! I love that you helped your new roommate get out of her funk, and that you didn't even care if other people thought you were lesbian as well!

    And I'm gong to check out your movies for sure :) thanks for sharing, Robyn.

    Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews

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    1. Thanks Lexxie. We were both pretty lost and I think pretty lucky. Ooh, I hope you get to watch them. If they were books, they'd definitely be YA contemporary. Beautiful Thing is grittier, but so wonderful! Happy reading!

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  5. Robyn, you know the best part of this story is that you both helped each other during a time when you needed help the most. That was a meeting that was certainly fated. *sigh* I love that story!

    I'll have to check out these movies...someday. *ha* I don't know that I've seen many movies with gay characters aside Brokeback Mountain and some period piece with Billy Crudup that I can't remember the name of. I need to finish my sign up post for this. I've read a couple of teen books about the affects of prejudice against gays that were great. And a few adult books with bi characters I'd like to share as well. :)

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    1. I'm sure I would have quit school if it hadn't been for her. I was so lost. Maybe she could see that I needed to help her. We were fated for sure.

      Oh man, freaking Brokeback Mountain, why! Why that ending. Grrh. I still haven't been able to trick my mind into an alternative HEA, dang it. You can be sure all my movie recs this month will have something to hold on to at the end that makes your heart sing. None of this And the Band Played On or Boys Don't Cry business.

      I look forward to your posts. I haven't read too many books with gay characters since I wasn't a reader during the "perfect lesbian quest."

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  6. Wow, what an awesome story!! I love you even more, Robyn, and I didn't think that was possible! ;) You're one of the coolest people I know, girl! That's so cool you guys clicked and were able to support each other through those rough times. Some of the most interesting and awesome things have happened to you, and the way you tell us about it showcases your sharp wit and softer side at the same time.

    Best quote ever = "Then we get out there and you learn to be the best damn lesbian ever!"

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    1. You give me way too much credit. I promise you I'm a jerk. I tease my sister ever chance I get. And I only follow the speed limit because I have such a bad attitude when I get pulled over. But it really was so cool that we clicked. She was the best roommate I've ever had (ex-husband and kids included). You know that saying the people around you shape you (or some such). She was such a laid back person, and I was that way too because of her. And the best damn lesbian quest was great fun. I remember going through the list on a drive to watch the Indigo Girls. She had some questionnaire she found on the internet and she scored a 100%.

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  7. I love your storytelling style, Robyn! You're a natural.

    I haven't read any LGBT books, or watched many LGBT films. Last night, however, I watched one that was so touching and lovely. It's "Jack and Diane", starring the fabulous Juno Temple as Diane. Have you seen it? If it were a book, I would read it!

    ~ Nadine

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