Lee Bantle's David Inside Out: What Does Marriage Equality Mean to You?

David Inside Out by Lee Bantle was released in paperback last week. One of the additions to the book is a Question and Answer section with the author in the back of the book. To help promote the release, we'll be sharing some of these questions and answers - as well as giving you the chance to answer them too! Check out the book on Amazon here and even visit Lee Bantle on his website.

In the novel David Inside Out, David grew up before the Supreme Court declared same-sex marriage legal in all fifty states.  Though he was romantically drawn to boys, David never imagined that he could one day marry a man.  

How his world would have changed when the Obergefell decision came down!  The highest court in the land recognized the "equal dignity" of same-sex couples. David could now imagine a romantic life that included marriage.   His identity was affirmed. 

How did the Supreme Court decision embracing marriage equality affect you?

It would be great if this could be a forum where everyone of all stripes answered this question.  We're going to save all your posts in a 2017 time capsule. Write your answers for posterity. 

Marriage Equality: Musicians Share Their Excitement

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Alternative Press magazine shared a post where they collected images from many musicians' twitter pages, showing how excited they are for marriage equality in the United States.

As a fan of many of these artists, I thought it was great to see their excitement and thoughts. They can influence a lot of people (especially younger fans) so it's nice to see them supporting something positive and very much important. In the above photo you can see Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy, Hayley from Paramore, and Mark Hoppus from Blink182.

Are there any artists you're a fan of that shared their excitement online?

-Lauren

We're Back in Time for Marriage Equality!

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We're back and what a great time to be returning. I started this blog (I being Lauren) in order to share LGBTQ news and entertainment that would suit a YA audience. That doesn't mean you have to be a young adult, of course, so everyone is welcome. Running blogs takes a lot of time and effort and as I already handle Shooting Stars Mag, I eventually stopped posting over here. I've been wanting to bring this back though, because I think it's important. Now that Marriage Equality has spread across the United States, I think it's a great time to come back to this blog.

It might now be legal for same-sex couples to get married anywhere in the United States, but that doesn't mean that everyone believes in equal rights. There will still be hatred and hurt feelings, and while I know this, I don't agree with it. I feel that everyone should be free to love who they love - free to marry (and they can in the U.S. and many other countries) but also free from angry words and other forms of discrimination.

So, here at Let's Get Beyond Tolerance, we hope to shed a positive light on LGBTQ issues and entertainment. We don't want just tolerance - we want acceptance. For all.

Thank you for reading, following, and helping us out in the past. We ask that you continue to do so in the future and please spread the word. If you have something you want us to talk about or feature, just get in touch: lauren51990 AT aol DOT com or leave a comment.

If you look at the sidebar of this blog you will see that the official authors of the blog are Catherine Ryan Hyde and Lee Bantle. They are still helping, so you'll see things from them soon! Official authors means that their work will be focused on here and there, and they will share their own thoughts about things, but we are obviously going to focus on a lot more in the LGBTQ entertainment world - so again, get in touch!

Here's to equality, here's to love.

-Lauren Becker