Legal Incest

There was a book out about five or six years ago in the m/m romance genre that revolved around an incestuous relationship involving two brothers. I won’t give out names or any identities because doxxing people just sucks, but the book was written by a gay man. I don’t even think anyone would know who it is anymore…except for those who were scammed by him.

At the time the book really turned me off, and not just because of the incest. I truly don’t judge that kind of thing in books, and I believe in free speech completely without censorship. If that’s what you want to read and write, I’m fine with it. Flowers in the Attic is a good example of how popular this topic can be on a grand scale. In the same respect, I found the book I’m talking about now in the m/m romance genre only less repulsive when compared to the way people praised it and seemed to worship it. And I think most of that praise was insincere because the author was also well known (for about five minutes) and had a little power and other authors were sucking up to him/her so they could get attention, too. Only a handful of readers actually told how they really felt about the creepy brotherly relationship.

Five years later in 2014, the book is virtually unknown and the author’s behavior and dealings turned out to be about as dubious (and criminal) as it gets. Everything about this person turned out to be a total train wreck and this author has completely vanished. I’m only writing about this now because I think there’s a certain curiosity about incest that makes many people wonder in secret. I think the author of the book I’m talking about knew this and exploited that at the time just for the sake of pure shock value, not art.

In any event, the article to which I’m linking now is far more realistic than anything in fiction. It discusses the possible reality of legalizing incest in ways that I’m sure will make most people cringe on the outside and wonder about in silence.

Responding to a German ethics panel’s suggestion of de-criminalizing sex between adult siblings, a group of psychologists and experts joined HuffPost Live this week to discuss whether or not it was appropriate for criminal laws to ban sexual taboos such as incestuous relationships. 

“I suppose I take an unpopular view that it’s actually moral progress,” Jesse Bering, who is the author of Perv: The Sexual Deviant In All Of Us, told HuffPost Live’s Josh Zepps. “There are certain caveats that we need to include with our analysis of whether incest is wrong or right, but for me, the biggest point is a matter of harm.”

After Zepps pointed to Elijah and Milo Peters, two Czech-born brothers who have performed in gay adult scenes with each other, Bering noted, “The fact that they’re violating this… taboo notion of your brother or your sister being completely off-limits from a sexual perspective, I think, attracts… a large contingency of the viewing public.”

I’ve written about gay twins in several of my own books because I do think there’s a certain curiosity about them. But I never felt the need to cross the line where they got into an actual physical relationship with each other. They’ve shared lovers, but never been together. It’s just not something I feel comfortable doing, not even to sell books. And the only way I would do it is if the storyline called for it and it seemed plausible…think Flowers in the Attic again.

You can read more about this topic here.

Hot Gay Dad Not Gay Anymore

I’m not sure if I posted this one or not previously. It might have been a little too schmaltzy for me to post about. I see a lot of stories every day and I don’t always believe they’re true, or believable. In any event, this guy named Ben Hobson gave this emotional story about coming out. He garnered all kinds of attention for it and I’m actually surprised no one set up a crowdfunding page for him to make a hundred thousand or so without having to actually earn it. Isn’t that the trend these days when people read these sob stories? Set up a crowdfunding page. Give the total stranger your hard-earned money because, you know, it’s the right thing to do.

Everyone believed his story and he was even noted as one of the 10 great coming out stories of the year (there’s a link to that with the link I’m giving below). He became famous overnight for doing nothing at all. And here’s how it turned out months later:

Now, the video, as well as Hobson’s Facebook and Tumblr pages, have all been mysteriously deleted. This morning, a source close to Queerty sent us a series of screenshots allegedly taken from Hobson’s Tumblr page before it was deleted.

The screenshots show what appear to be a diary entry, in which Hobson allegedly claims to have mistaken a “bromance” with his best friend for “gay feelings.” He admits to “fooling around” with the guy, but now claims he was simply “confused” about his feelings and that he “might not be gay after all.”

Good’ole Hobson made this statement:

Probably going to get a lot of hate for this one but…I am discovering that I like girls more than guys. I “fooled around” with a guy while drunk a year ago and thought that meant I MUST be gay. Turns out my judgement was wrong. My mom must’ve passed down her bipolar genes onto me, but to a whole other level Either way, I was tired of 30,000 people on YouTube looking up to me for someone I wasn’t. The one thing I still am and always will be is a great dad. That is what I’m meant for in life, and that is what I value most. #sexualityisfluid

You can read the rest here. I don’t think we should hate him. I don’t hate him. He clearly has a few issues. I don’t even think it’s worth drawing conclusions or offering comments on this one. I just think we all need to be a little more aware of the things we read and see on the Internet these days.

 James Franco’s Penis Again

There is something called gay-baiting. That’s when straights (or gays) tease the general public with something gay to get their attention but never follow through with it. But I’m not sure there’s something called penis-baiting, which is when some famous men out there seem to enjoy baiting people with their penises but never actually show the penises. Yesterday I posted about Ben Affleck’s virtually invisible penis making headlines for his new film, Gone Girl. And today good old James Franco is back with another headline regarding his penis. Only in all fairness, Franco didn’t actually perpetuate this one…at least I don’t think he did.

Or did he? That’s the question that’s burning on the minds of Queerty’s editorial staff. Please reserve your judgements for the comments section, but hey, if you made it this far, that means you’re curious just like us.

This tip (just the tip) came via Gawker, where the diligent staff takes a much-needed closer look at one of the pictures James put up on his Instagram last weekend:

You can read the rest here, where there are photos so you can try to find Franco’s penis on your own. It’s kind of like that post I wrote about “Where’s the dildo?” Only in this case it’s a real penis, but it may or may not be the real thing. I think I saw it, Franco’s penis. But it could have been a fold in the cover.

When conservative young Dan meets a hot charismatic gay cowboy named Cass who claims he’s related to storied Texas Ranger, Kit Acklin, during a web cast interview in a dirty cowboy locker room, something unusual happens. Although Dan is still mourning the death of his boyfriend and hot Cass is a self-proclaimed no-good drifter, the web cast eventually goes viral and they are offered the dream job of a lifetime on TV.

In spite of their differences, there’s an undeniable chemistry between Dan and Cass and they find one thing in common they can’t get enough of. Dan’s two gay dads, Sebastian and Avery, encourage Dan to build a relationship with Cass, but Dan’s not sure he wants to get emotionally involved with a drifter cowboy or do a live TV show from Austin. So Dan winds up befriending a needy young ranch hand with a few kinks and gay issues of his own.

It all takes place in peaceful Glendora Hill, Texas, with recurring characters from previous books that all know Dan well. Will Dan ever get over his boyfriend’s death, stop making the same mistakes, and move forward with his life? And will Cass ever learn there’s more to life than just drifting from ranch to ranch?