JULY 9, 1993 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

ENTERTAINMENT

Light summer fiction sweeps the closet clean

Closet Case

by Robert Rodi

Dutton, 330 p. $21.00 hardcover

Reviewed by Timothy Robson Robert Rodi's Closet Case was the perfect antidote to a couple of months of thinking about Michelangelo Signorile's Queer in America. Although the books are a continent apart in style and substance, their message is the same. Closet Case is a modern fable with the ever-so-timely moral, "The oppression of the closet is deadly” or, more colloquially, “Kick open your closet door and come out; it can't be as bad as you think."

Lionel Frank, our hero, appears to be the model all-American male-good looks, good job-but is a closet queer. He has convinced himself that his advertising agency could not conceivably have an openly gay male as an employee. The story follows his increasingly labyrinthine schemes to

stay in the closet and is populated with mostly stereotyped characters: his fauxFrench gay male hairdresser (who refers to himself as "one"-as in "One might consent to forgive you if you admit to one that your hair is thinning."); his Latina sexkitten neighbor with a past but a heart of gold and swishy heterosexual boyfriend; his bimbo beard-girlfriends; the hunky Transylvanian activist; the various office personae. Rodi's portraits of the obnoxious straight businessmen and their grown-upsorority-chick wives are particularly apt.

Despite a slow start (I just about gave up after Lionel's thousandth declaration that he HAD to stay in the closet to keep his job-Puh-leeze), the book does move on to a hilarious and inevitable conclusion. It's absolutely clear from the beginning what the outcome is going to be; the fun is getting there. There's nothing strikingly original or brilliant here, but this is fun, a no-brainer summer book for vacation or the beach.

Columbus Pride ... Oooooh what a feeling!

by David A. Ebbert

Gay Pride: that feeling of excitement that enters your body before, during, and after a homocelebration. Several of my colleagues and friends decided, at the last minute, that we would attend the Pride march in Columbus. It was the first time in Columbus for several of us and I have to tell you that the hype was in the air.

We departed the Chronicle offices at about nine o'clock and arrived in Columbus at about noon. Along with a whole lot of

Emcee Karen Williams was very exciting and the keynote speaker, Ohio's former First Lady, Dagmar Celeste, was very well received by the crowd.

At about 5 pm our party headed to Herby's Tavern where we spent the remainder of the evening--and our money! With our funds and our energy completely spent, we journeyed back to Cleveland.

(

Personally, I can't wait to do it again! Great job Columbus!

people we assembled at Goodale Park and Gay paper 'vanishes'

began to proudly march at one o'clock. There were several fundies on the route but our supporters far outweighed them. The excitement of seeing and being part of the 12,000 marchers was simply overwhelming. I have never experienced anything like it before.

The march ended up in Bicentennial Park, where there were many vendors selling merchandise such as shirts, jewelry, books, CDs, and the many-pride related items.

Fairfax Va.-Entire stacks of the Washington Blade are being taken from libraries in Washington, D.C. suburbs, as fundamentalists seek to make it "disappear."

Opponents and supporters of the paper clashed earlier this year when the library board met to decide whether to distribute keep the paper. the paper in the libraries. Officials voted to

Publisher Don Michaels has hired people to monitor distribution points in libraries.

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