I don’t remember exactly how I came across it, but a while ago I stumbled upon an online list that an organization called the Publishing Triangle had made of the “100 Best Lesbian and Gay Novels of all time." Since I was a literature major, and reading is still pretty much like breathing for me, it was an interesting list. There were the overtly gay-themed novels you might expect — E. M. Forster’s Maurice, for example, and Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness — as well as books that I recognized as subtextually gay, even if it’s not quite made explicit: D. H. Lawrence’s Women in Love (which, somewhat counter-intuitively, is really about men in love with each other), and Henry James’s The Bostonians. One selection, at No. 43, came as a pretty big surprise, though: Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

I thought about this. Little Women? Really? I mean, yes, Jo March was a tomboy; yes, she had a propensity for dressing up in men’s clothes and swaggering about; yes, the handsome, wealthy, intelligent, kind boy next door was in love with her, and she just wanted to be friends. But it still seemed like a pretty big, and presumptuous, leap to me, to claim it as a lesbian novel. … continue reading

Sure, hockey and basketball are fun, but for those of us who start feeling a little bit lost as the final out of the World Series is recorded, there’s nothing quite like baseball season.

That’s where the Internet comes in very handy. Even though it’s the off-season, we can still visit the websites of our favorite teams all winter long and keep up with their latest moves (two full months since the season ended, and the Mets still haven't made any major changes. Are they under the impression that the bullpen is going to fix itself?).

In any case, as well as keeping up with MLB, there are many other sites of interest to keep a fan busy until pitchers and catchers arrives. Even those who have a cursory interest in baseball but follow women’s sports will enjoy the official site of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which commemorates the players and teams profiled in the movie A League of Their Own.

So, you’ve seen the movie (in which, as has been pointed out on this site, the teams were populated with butch, but strictly straight, women. I mean, really, lesbian softball players? How silly would that have been?). If the movie made you think it must have been fun to play in the AAGPBL, keep in mind that athletic skills, oddly enough, were often secondary. Hard to believe, but then, we’re talking about the 1940s here — not exactly an enlightened time for women. Which accounts for much of the allure of playing: It represented opportunity, a way out of small towns and a shot at a better future. … continue reading