Gay like me
Gay Like Me Composer Richie Jackson Says He Has to Come Out Every Single Day—Even at 54
In OprahMag.com's series Coming Out, LGBTQ change-makers reflect on their journey toward self-acceptance. While it's beautiful to bravely share your persona with the planet, choosing to perform so is entirely up to you—period.
Richie Jackson is the producer behind Harvey Fierstein's Torch Ballad on Broadway, plus Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated TV shows such as Nurse Jackie. In his book Gay Fond Me, available January 28, Jackson revisits key LGBTQ events such as Stonewall, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the clash for marriage equality to offer his oldest son Jackson—who came out as gay at 15—a touching and practical guide for living life safely as an openly homosexual man.
"I am so happy you are gay. There is so much about being gay that I am eager for you to experience. The amazingly diverse community that you are now a part of and that is now a part of you—the brilliant, funny, creative, inventive, courageous, wicked, tough, heroic lives you are among," he writes. "I am thrilled for the flight ahead of you; I am wary of the fight ahead of you."
In this personal essay, J
Gay Like Me
Being gay is a gift, Jackson writes, but with their gains in jeopardy the gay community must not be complacent.
As Ta-Nehisi Coates awakened us to the continued pervasiveness of racism in America in Between the World and Me, Jackson’s rallying cry in Gay Love Me is an eye-opening indictment to straight-lash in America. This book is an intimate, personal exploration of our uncertain times and most troubling questions and profound concerns about issues as fundamental as dignity, equality, and justice.
Gay Like Me is a blueprint for our time that bridges the knowledge gap of what it’s like to be gay in America. This is a cultural manifesto that will stand the test of period. Angry, proud, fierce, tender, it is a powerful letter of love from a father to a son that holds unforgettable insight for us all.
A portion of the author’s proceeds will be donated to
The Trevor Project.
Gay Like Me: A Conversation with Richie Jackson
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020 6:30 PM — 8:30 PMDownload .ics
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The LGBTQ+ Alumni Network in collaboration with the Tisch School of the Arts is pleased to bring you a special evening with Richie Jackson '87 (BFA, Drama), successful Broadway producer and author of Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son. He will be interviewed by Gabrielle Korn (GAL '11), Refinery 29's director of fashion and culture.
In Gay Like Me, Jackson reflects on gay identity, parenting, and homophobia past and present. Participate us on February 12 for a book talk and signing with Richie
Gay Like Me: Richie Jackson's Important New Book Was Written For His Son
I had a singular and pure impetus for my book, Gay Like Me. As a gay dude and the father of a gay son who was readying himself to move out of our home for college, I had to write a letter to him about what it means to be a gay human and what it takes to be a lgbtq+ man in America. I chose a narrow alley and the structure of a letter. I needed to tell our son everything I know—everything he needed to know—as he stepped out into the world on his hold.
Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son
But what could hold felt academic or textbook-like would not work. Writing a letter to my son prevented me from editing out or smoothing over any of my own harrowing history or of the LGBTQ community’s. I was completely straightforward and held nothing back.
I took a risk in being vulnerable enough to share all the things I had previously kept from him so he would feel safe. When is it a fine time to tell your child about the plague you lived through? He never knew we traveled with his birth certificate on vacations in case our parentage was ever questioned at an airport or worse, a hospital. But I knew by being fully exp