Say It Out Loud

I finished reading "Say It Out Loud" just last night. It's a biography of Adam Sutton, described as a gay Australian cowboy.


I'm not usually a fan of biographies. My non-fiction reading is usually historical or religious. This book appealed to me, though, and when I saw it on sale at Borders I decided to pick it up. I guess my first interest came when I saw Adam interviewed for Australian Story last year.

Both the book and the tv program tell the story of Adams life so far. It's told in Adams voice, giving it very personal feel. In some ways it's an easy book to read - the language is plain spoken and straightforward. But in others it's quite hard - it's the story of his pain and confusion while growing up and coming out. In the process he's led a pretty amazing life, and it sounds like quite a rollercoaster.

Part of the reason it was so gripping for me was that I can relate to parts of the story. Mostly the parts about being gay and coming out. Apart from those struggles, his life makes a much more interesting story than mine does, that's for sure.

I think this book is worth at least 4 stars. Definitely worth reading. His life story is interesting in itself, and the courage Adam has displayed in living his life and then sharing it with everyone like this is pretty inspiring stuff.

Continued around the bend...

Is it gay day?

It must be gay day or something... lots of gay-related stories floating around this morning. Here's a few...

First, a couple of Democrats articles, here and here.

Then, there's these stories from the Brisbane Times. An opinion article from a boy still in high school, and a blog entry from JB.

Not a bad way to start the reading day.


I enjoyed the opinion article by Daniel Swain. High school feels like a long time ago now, but I can still remember some of it. I wasn't teased of picked on at school for being gay, or if I was I didn't notice it. I did know I was gay, but went out of my way not to let it show back then. Maybe I was good at hiding, or maybe the other guys just didn't care. Or maybe, since it was a small school and there was no mention of homosexuality at all from the teachers, no-one even thought about it as a possibility. I don't know, but I'm glad I wasn't teased or abused.

I didn't discover the internet until I was at uni, but it was a huge help in terms of coming out, getting information and meeting people. There was absolutely no way I was going to walk into a gay bar or any place like that, so the relative anonymity of the net was fantastic. There was a sense of freedom online that I wouldn't allow myself back in the real world.

I'm glad things are changing for the kids in school today. That's really encouraging. And I really admire the kids who are coming out while still at school. I wish I could have done that - life would have been very different if I had. Anyway...

Back onto the politics of equal rights, marriage and adoption... this is another reason I usually support the Democrats. They actually try and do something about rights for gay and lesbian people. Their position is that there should be equal rights for all, regardless of sexual preference, and that gay couples should have equal rights with straight couples. To me, that just seems so obvious that it shouldn't need to be debated, but the current government doesn't see it. And the Labor party doesn't seem much better. I hope the Democrats will still be in a position after the next election to keep raising this issue.

But I don't expect it to be a big issue at the election, and don't expect anything much to change after it. Maybe I'm wrong, though... here's hoping...

Continued around the bend...