In Dwayne Ratleff’s novel, Dancing to the Lyrics, a kid growing up in East Baltimore in the 1960s knows he’s different from the other children before he quite knows what it means to be gay. He’s processing that, as well as a lot of cruelty and depraved conduct by adults in his life, balanced with nurturing support from an assortment of characters. It’s a memoir cloaked in fiction. One piece of advice that sticks is not to care what other people think of him.
Pride month celebrations continue this weekend. Check out Rockville Pride, Catonsville’s 1st Annual Family Pride, an LGBTQ+ comedy show at the Crown in Baltimore, and a “Pride Ride” fundraiser in Canton for the Pride Center of Maryland.