Being Black And Gay In Los Angeles

"There was a time, my uncle Syl [a retired actor in Black Gay Hollywood] once told me, when gay men in Los Angeles lived as much, if not more, on the margins as black folks. But if things got too hot, white gays always had the option to go back into the closet, back to passing themselves off as masters of the universe. Not so their black counterparts, who at the end of the day were still black, still on the outside looking in."--LAPD detective Charlotte Justice (fictional character), from Inner City Blues by Paula L. Woods (W.W. Norton, 1999), Page 269.

I am always amazed that black women writers like Paula L. Woods and Gloria Naylor are more open to including black gay and lesbian characters in their fiction than many of their black male peers.

Amateur Sleuth Jaine Austen Is Perfect For TV And Movies

I've only seen Melissa McCarthy in movie trailers but I'm convinced she would be the perfect actress to play Jaine Austen, Laura Levine's hilarious amateur sleuth/freelance writer. Jaine Austen has appeared in several mystery novels along with her very independent cat, Prozac, and her campy gay next-door neighbor Lance.

Why this mystery series has not been turned into a television series or into feature films is itself a mystery.

I am a longtime fan of Laura Levine's, who was at one time a television comedy writer (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman ;The Jeffersons, to name two). For a long time I've felt that the reason she is writing books instead of television scripts is because of ageism in Hollywood. But her comedic talent hasn't diminished because her books never fail to make me laugh. And if Jaine Austen came to the big or small screen, I believe she would be an instant hit.