Everybody has a favorite fandom, a 'cult favorite' if you will. My literature teacher's, for example, is The Great Gatsby. Which is cool for those of us who like to scream at the characters' ridiculousness, but I found a book that I can relate to so much better, with a main character whom I genuinely admire. Rather typically of me, I suppose, my cult favorite is about a gay kid.
This fabulous book is called Freak Show, by James St. James (the author himself a drag queen). It's relatively obscure but undeniably beautiful, and it's about a seventeen-year-old, fabulously badass "drag queen-in training" named Billy Bloom. Billy's mom kicks him out when she finds him wearing her clothes, forcing him to move in with his macho man dad in a ridiculously redneck, Republican town in the south of Florida. He goes to this school there where apparently NOBODY HAS SEEN A GAY PERSON BEFORE. It's so stupid, the way they all treat him. The way the straight guys, particularly the jocks, react is atrocious of course, but much of their torture isn't anything the average American queer teen hasn't seen before (I'm not saying all cishet male jocks are like this, so don't get your panties in a bunch. But a mysteriously high number of them are. I suspect the homophobic ones have taken a few too many knocks to the head in those tackles of theirs; however, we shan't quibble when there's writing to be done). Except for this one part where Billy gets...ah, how do I put this delicately...beaten up (understatement of the century), they are merely immature cretins who get away with their bullying behavior because no teacher wants to punish the football players. Can't have those Manatees lose the game, now can we?
The girls in the story, except for Billy's amazing fag hag Mary Jane, are vicious. One of them had the nerve to ask Billy, after approximately five seconds of knowing him, if he "eats poo." Really, how juvenile can anyone get? The cheerleaders frequently mob and torment Billy, asking him disgustingly rude and personal questions based on imbecilic stereotypes about gay men. Especially at these scenes, I was honestly sad that I couldn't physically enter Billy's world. I was a little tempted to flirt with those cheerleaders and freak them out, just so they'd shut up. Hey, those of us who ride the rainbow have to stick together.
Thankfully, not every heterosexual in the tale of our bedazzled hero is as despicable. The aforementioned Mary Jane is pretty cool. She's one of exactly two students who is willing to befriend Billy. She lets other people dictate a little too much of her life at first, imho, but her school is brutal and she knows it. Who could blame her? I've been guilty of the same thing at times, so I certainly have no place to judge. Meanwhile, there's Flossie, the Blooms' housekeeper. With Billy's mother out of the picture, Flossie acts as his mother figure and sardonic sidekick, cheering him on and protecting him from behind the scenes. The last somewhat decent cishet character is Billy's dad. At first, Mr. Bloom just seems like a typical Republican father who disapproves of his flamboyantly gay son, but when Billy is hurt, he really comes through for him. Even if he doesn't approve of homosexuality, he puts those feelings aside and supports his son.
The last character to be mentioned here is Flip Kelly. Flip is pretty much the only football player with an actually cool personality. He's the one who rescues Billy when he's attacked and comes to visit him in the hospital every day when he's comatose, which is absolutely adorable and has completely turned me into a Blippy shipper. When Billy gets out of the hospital, they become best friends. It's the sweetest thing ever, darling.
In short, Freak Show is a wonderfully fabulous novel with a fun, brave protagonist who overcomes every obstacle presented to him in style and is a fantastic role model for gay kids everywhere. Oh, darling, you absolutely must read it!
This fabulous book is called Freak Show, by James St. James (the author himself a drag queen). It's relatively obscure but undeniably beautiful, and it's about a seventeen-year-old, fabulously badass "drag queen-in training" named Billy Bloom. Billy's mom kicks him out when she finds him wearing her clothes, forcing him to move in with his macho man dad in a ridiculously redneck, Republican town in the south of Florida. He goes to this school there where apparently NOBODY HAS SEEN A GAY PERSON BEFORE. It's so stupid, the way they all treat him. The way the straight guys, particularly the jocks, react is atrocious of course, but much of their torture isn't anything the average American queer teen hasn't seen before (I'm not saying all cishet male jocks are like this, so don't get your panties in a bunch. But a mysteriously high number of them are. I suspect the homophobic ones have taken a few too many knocks to the head in those tackles of theirs; however, we shan't quibble when there's writing to be done). Except for this one part where Billy gets...ah, how do I put this delicately...beaten up (understatement of the century), they are merely immature cretins who get away with their bullying behavior because no teacher wants to punish the football players. Can't have those Manatees lose the game, now can we?
The girls in the story, except for Billy's amazing fag hag Mary Jane, are vicious. One of them had the nerve to ask Billy, after approximately five seconds of knowing him, if he "eats poo." Really, how juvenile can anyone get? The cheerleaders frequently mob and torment Billy, asking him disgustingly rude and personal questions based on imbecilic stereotypes about gay men. Especially at these scenes, I was honestly sad that I couldn't physically enter Billy's world. I was a little tempted to flirt with those cheerleaders and freak them out, just so they'd shut up. Hey, those of us who ride the rainbow have to stick together.
Thankfully, not every heterosexual in the tale of our bedazzled hero is as despicable. The aforementioned Mary Jane is pretty cool. She's one of exactly two students who is willing to befriend Billy. She lets other people dictate a little too much of her life at first, imho, but her school is brutal and she knows it. Who could blame her? I've been guilty of the same thing at times, so I certainly have no place to judge. Meanwhile, there's Flossie, the Blooms' housekeeper. With Billy's mother out of the picture, Flossie acts as his mother figure and sardonic sidekick, cheering him on and protecting him from behind the scenes. The last somewhat decent cishet character is Billy's dad. At first, Mr. Bloom just seems like a typical Republican father who disapproves of his flamboyantly gay son, but when Billy is hurt, he really comes through for him. Even if he doesn't approve of homosexuality, he puts those feelings aside and supports his son.
The last character to be mentioned here is Flip Kelly. Flip is pretty much the only football player with an actually cool personality. He's the one who rescues Billy when he's attacked and comes to visit him in the hospital every day when he's comatose, which is absolutely adorable and has completely turned me into a Blippy shipper. When Billy gets out of the hospital, they become best friends. It's the sweetest thing ever, darling.
In short, Freak Show is a wonderfully fabulous novel with a fun, brave protagonist who overcomes every obstacle presented to him in style and is a fantastic role model for gay kids everywhere. Oh, darling, you absolutely must read it!
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