Now That I'm Out What Do I Do?

Writing with the "newly elect" in mind, Brian McNaught advises his readers on how to forge connections within the sometimes thorny gay, lesbian, and bisexual communities while still maintaining ties with family and old friends. Along the way, he discusses sexual ethics, same-sex marriage, work, spirituality, and political action. Readers who have been out for a year or more, or who grew up in large cities, may find McNaught's earnest tone and tortoise pace too basic, or even unintentionally funny. (After telling us, for example, that he and his gay brother, Tommy, feel comfortable with each other in the way McNaught imagines that compatible heterosexual brothers might feel, he confides that they "talk often about issues from our childhood that we are currently working on in therapy.") But for the neophyte, his tolerant and deliberate approach will feel welcoming. A good introductory book for adolescents as well, and the families of gay people. --Regina Marler