Gav Trivia Game REVIEW BY BOB BOLYARD t family (the genetic land, not the “family” kind) gatherings, my siblings - usually headed up by my sister - their kids, my mom and anyone else still awake after a tradi- tional huge home-cooked meal, gather around the table and play board games. Of course, deci- sions need to be made. Will it be Taboo, Scattergories, Whatzit, or one of the various editions of Trivial Pursuit? And then, who’s going to be on whose team? Boys vs. girls? Counting off of threes or fours? Left side of table against right side? By now it’s time for ‘another piece of pie. 'My aforementioned sister is the one who brings the games and therefore is the one who knows and enforces all the rules. Everything is black or white. Rules are rules. No in- terpretation needed. This is the background that I brought to the table when asked to review “Ho- mogenius - The Game.” To play the game, I gathered my “family” together, ate a big meal, and then assumed the role of my sister. And if you know me or my sister, this wasn’t a big stretch. The press release that came with the game and the box it came in were quite impressive.’ But, like online personals that offer outdated or wrong pictures , and misleading stats, closer in- spection is disappointing. The object of the game is “to get out of the closet.” Players (2-6), with their rainbow-colored playing pieces start at the bot- tom of the board (a not so gay- looking picture of a closet), and “each turn, a player rolls the die and moves the number shown to either a blank square or a starred square. If the player lands on a blank square one of the other reads a ‘rumor’ card ques- tion to them. If the player lands on a starred square one of the other players reads them a ‘pot- pourri’ card question. Whomever (sic) gets out of the closet first wins.” That’s it. And that ain't black or white. What happens if you answer the question correctly? Or don’t? Do you get to move forward, backward or jump ahead? No clue. So, before we got started we had to make up _ some of our own rules. Not a good way to start a “friendly” ’ game among “family.” Especially‘ i when copious amounts of vodka and beer are involved. ' And then there are the ques- tions. There are two different piles of cards, “Rumor” and “Pot- pourri.” Samples of the “Rumor” card questions: ' - What openly gay singer and songwriter posed naked with her girlfriend in a PETA ad? 0 This out of the closet fashion photographer captured the essence of the world's most beautiful women. 0 Truman Streckfus Persons was the real name of this famous author‘? (sic) Rumors? These sound like facts to me. And for your own amusement, the answers are, respectively, Melissa Etheridge, Francesco Scavullo (you didn't know that‘?), and Truman Capote (duh). These questions have ' at least some obvious connec- tion to “gay and lesbian cul- ture.” But others don’t. It would have been informative, enter- taining and downright nice had they given some background information on the answers. The “Potpourri” questions aren't any better. 0 What color handkerchief is a gay man most likely to have in his jeans pocket‘? 0 What does this acronym stand for‘? B.L.G. 0 A 25-year-old British man died of a mysterious disease in Manchester. It is now believed that he was the first recorded person to die of AIDS. What year was it‘? , Feeling stupid? Or did you -know the answers are red, bi- lesbian-gay, and 1959‘? If you got any of them right you get to whatever you decide because the rules of the game aren’t go- ing to tell you. . Overall, this game isn't worth the $34.99 being charged. Get a group of friends together, a stack of old People magazines and turn on Logo - you’ll come up with your own “rumors” and “potpourri” and learn a lot about each other as you’re doing it.V Bob Bolyard is a peer outre_ach worker at R.U.1.2'? and writes the What's Up!!! online calendar for community events. He can be ‘reached at bob@ru12.org. DEC.2006/JAN.2007 I out In the mountains 23 ' I I - 5e|f-0rgunI1|ng men writers Explode lruns-mustu|inities_ REVIEW BY LESLIE AND SHAHN FREEMAN-DYKESEN _ ay Sennett’s new anthology, Self-Organizing Men, represents an ambitious effort to grapple with issues of social privilege, cultural .. assumptions, and public presentation, versus personal subjectivity among trans-masculine individuals and transgender communities. Like most anthologies that have documented both emerging theory and current practices, Self-Organizing Men alternately faltersand tri- umphs. The writing moves unevenly, from essay to poetry to a mix and a mutual interview. Art is dappled throughout: pictures, small sculp- tures, drawings, cartoons. Some pieces reinforce gender norms based ‘in male privilege, by focusing on female-to-male transsexuals‘ relation- ships to their bodies in terms of “lack,” or by describing transsexual and transgendered men’s struggles for acceptance as struggles for recognition as “real” men rather than for fully. realized and respected se1fhood._ . The best pieces, including essays by Aren Azura and Bobby Noble, and poems by hip-hop statesman Tim’m West and Vermont's own Eli Clare, contribute to the growing discourse of transfeminism, not mere- ly seeking ethical models of manhood, but challenging the gender-bi- nary scaffolding of patriarchy, and analyzing gender in relation to race, class, and capitalism. 'I‘im’m West’s poem closes the collection, a contribution of intro- spection and self-declaration from a place many F'l‘Ms choose to recov- er from the pain and aftermath of transition. West offers us a history of sorts, and reminds us that all gay men - not just transsexual gay men -. struggle with acceptance and self and what masculinity can mean to a person who doesn’t fit the dominant image of a man. Clare offers a poem about testosterone-and butchness and queemess. How does one make the decision to stop living as a lesbian and live as a gay man? How does one make any decision to come out‘? Clare does so with eloquence; articulating the dissonance that many trans- men feel about the choices that are presented to them at the beginning of their medical transitions. - ' Noble, who discusses female-to-male transition as a racialized experience with very different ramifications ‘of power and status for _transmen of color, offers a new theoretical paradigm, which encapsu- lates the strengths of Self-__0"rgam'zing Men: trans in-coherence, a posi- tive, productive disharmony, a collective state of paradox and flux. If you are FTM identified or if you are not, this is a highly valuable collection of stories from members of a community that never fully coalesced. From members of a community that may always be in some kind of transition, whether we see it or not.V Self-Organizing Men, edited by Jay Sennett, may be purchased from Homofactus Press, or downloaded at www.homofactuspr_ess.com. Leslie Freeman-Dykesen holds a BAin Liberal Studies with concentrations 5 in Gender and Dis/ability, and is now pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing. ~ Shahn Freeman-Dykesen is former executive director of The American Boyz, a nationwide l-‘l'_M non-profit, which sponsored and organized the annual TrueSpirit conference. Leslie and Shahn just celebrated their civil union on the campus of their alma mater, Goddard College. veauont. mu. VGU MW llt ? Out in the Mountains was instrumental in developing the LGBTQ community! in Vermont, a community that ultimately led the nation in securing civil rights for . same-sex partners. The Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force honors the profound accomplishments W of this paper and the community it— nurtured.