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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 15, 2010

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Growing up gay and Mennonite in northeast Ohio

by H. Paul Schwitzgebel

Dr. James Helmuth's recently published Crossing the Bridge, From Mennonite Boy to Gay Man is an autobiographical recounting of his emergence from a constricted childhood into free and openly gay manhood.

Readers will find three different motifs in Crossing the Bridge (IUniverse, available in multiple formats including e-book).

Helmuth, a practicing psychologist in Akron, often puts the reader in the counselor's chair and himself on the couch. Feeling and passion are present when he tells the stories of his nearsuicide and of his seeking companionship beyond his heterosexual marriage. Ultimately, the framing and language reveal the therapist's penchant for a healthy resolution.

Growth in religious understanding and spirituality is a second motif that

permeates the book. The author grew up in a very conservative Christian sect known as the Mennonites. For those unfamiliar with it, think Amish light. Believed by his mother to be destined for a God-directed vocation because of his toddler-age survival of a freak accident, Helmuth was repeatedly encouraged by her to stay in close conformance to his faith.

In addition to the interesting

glimpses of Mennonite practice, the author recounts his moments of spiritual revelation and reflection in the sauna of an Akron gay bathhouse. Helmuth contextualizes his Christian heritage and presents an explanation of his newfound spirituality.

Helmuth's life, except for some college years, has been lived in Stark and Summit counties in northeast Ohio. So, lastly, the book serves as an historical piece providing a glimpse into gay

manhood in the Midwest from a quarter-century before to a quarter-century after Stonewall.

For most gays before 1969 there were no visible role models and there was scant information of any sort available regarding same gender attraction. Stonewall was a breakthrough as far as visibility, but it didn't provide prototypes of how to make homosexuality viable, workable in the hinterlands.

Helmuth's Crossing the Bridge lets us see how one man made that sometimes-perilous journey from condemnation and denial to acceptance and celebration.

To purchase the book, go to www.crossingthebridgebook.com or

www.iuniverse.com.

H. Paul Schwitzgebel has spent much of the last thirty years involved in LGBT and HIV advocacy and activism.

James Helmuth

CROSSING

THE BRIDGE Bridge

From Mennonite Boy to Gay Man

JAMES L HEL

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