Bøger udgivet af Johnny Townsend

As Craig and Toby struggle to keep their faltering marriage alive, the climate crisis intrudes, part of a threesome in their relationship.Craig wants to take drastic action but Toby just wants to live his life as best he can before climate breakdown escalates. "You fight for your life by any means necessary," Craig insists. "If someone breaks into your house, you pull out a baseball bat or a gun. When there's a mass shooting, you run, hide, or fight back."But when it involves global warming? And fossil fuel industries buying politicians who protect carbon emissions at the cost of human lives?Craig wonders if a letter to the editor is effective. If blocking traffic at a rally once or twice a year is enough.Toby threatens to leave him if does anything stupid. And to report him to the authorities.But Craig feels he'll need to commit violence one way or another, either by condoning the status quo or by doing whatever he can to fight those who keep destabilizing the climate. So he joins a group of eco activists whose efforts are far more extreme than even he had expected.Will Craig survive the violent police crackdown on protesters?Will his relationship with Toby survive the additional stress of betrayal?And will either of them survive the new wildfire that's just started at the edge of town?

LGBTQ Mormons may not be a good fit for the LDS world, but there's plenty of room for them elsewhere. A budding feminist tries to make a political statement by giving birth to her "illegitimate" son in church just before Mother's Day. A gay man works with unhoused people in Seattle while taking care of a terminally ill partner at home. A lesbian couple fight internalized homophobia that has them questioning if their desperate financial situation is a punishment from God. A man trains himself to stop praying. A gay man falls in love in Morocco. Another man learns his boyfriend was at a nightclub when a mass shooter attacked.Few of us are a perfect fit for the culture we're born into, yet even as religious intolerance makes a desperate comeback attempt, there are good, like-minded folks everywhere. And love always wins in the end.

What happens when a High Priest becomes addicted to crack cocaine? Should an unemployed bank teller take in a homeless protester from the Occupy Movement? Who is Salt Lake City's newest superhero, a masked man wearing temple clothes who mysteriously shows up at crime scenes?Is there a way to splice the empathy gene into the genome of every human? Can a schizophrenic woman on anti-delusional drugs keep her belief in an intangible God? Will a childless biochemist find fulfillment by taking part in a mission to Mars?Not every Latter-day Saint has a mainstream story to tell, but these soul-searching folks are still more than the marginal Mormons headquarters would like us to believe.

Global Warming. Climate Change. Climate Crisis. Climate Emergency. Whatever label we use, we are facing one of the greatest challenges to the survival of life as we know it.But while addressing greenhouse gases is perhaps our most urgent need, it's not our only task. We must also address toxic waste, pollution, habitat destruction, and our other contributions to the world's sixth mass extinction event.To do that, we must simultaneously address the unmet human needs that keep us distracted from deeper engagement in stabilizing our climate: economic inequality, universal healthcare, tuition-free college and vocational training, fare-free public transit, and subsidized childcare.And to accomplish that, we must unite to combat the monied forces that use fear, prejudice, and misinformation to manipulate us.It's a daunting task. But success is our only option.

"Gay Ex-Mormons Unite!" In these tales by a former Mormon missionary, a polygamist in 1855 Utah is ordered to take a fourth wife, when all he really wants is to be with another man. A Victorian enthusiast has a startling sexual revelation to make at his monthly Society meeting. A gay Mormon hires a hit man in a desperate bid to stop himself from breaking the Law of Chastity. A Relief Society president is trapped on a plane next to a gay man flaunting his sexuality. The Three Nephites seek counseling to deal with their sexual frustrations since their wives aren't immortal as they are. A worthy gay man becomes a ministering angel in the afterlife. A Mormon missionary in Italy moves in with a man he's been teaching. Gay men don't always have lots in common, but most of us understand religious bigotry and enjoy reading some of the many ways we've learned not only to cope but also find "Sexual Solidarity" with one another.

Family members and religious leaders often invoke "love" as their justification for making the lives of LGBTQ folks difficult. But we've learned how to nurture one another. In these tales from the author of Mormon Underwear and Gayrabian Nights, a gay man invites two young Mormon missionaries to watch movies on their day off, offering R-rated and eventually X-rated films for their edification. A man receives a substantial inheritance...on the condition he leave his husband. A customer service rep at a Suicide Center established under a new theocracy "assists" those condemned of homosexuality kill themselves. A bishop is murdered by one of his congregants for being too "liberal." A lonely wife discovers that her husband of twenty-six years is gay. Two missionaries try to interest men at an adult video store in the LDS Church. Parents tell their son he's ugly from the time they first suspect he's gay, hoping he'll be afraid to date once he becomes an adult.As the fight to remain free of theocracy intensifies, it's important to understand what we're up against and prepare for the political-and emotional-battles ahead. One way is by telling stories oppressors don't want us to hear.

When religious indoctrination clashes with reality, the outcome can't always be predicted. In these stories by the author of Please Evacuate and Inferno in the French Quarter, a Seminary teacher threatens to kill his students. A schizophrenic woman in a hurricane evacuation shelter finds love. A Relief Society president's silicone breast implants develop into a new life form. A sister missionary suffocating under family pressure volunteers to be held hostage during a bank robbery. A teenage girl is haunted by the ghost of Emma Smith. A devout Mormon takes up sex work to raise money to help the poor.Sometimes, behavior that seems perfectly reasonable in one culture can seem disturbing to those outside it. But whether reasonable or disturbing, their stories can also make compelling reading.

In this collection of stories by ex-Mormon author Johnny Townsend, we see a missionary cope with the startling discovery that his companion has been translated off the face of the Earth. A teenage girl pretends to be her brother so she can "hold the priesthood" for at least a day. A young man taught that loved ones watch over family members from the Other Side keeps imagining his grandmother catching him masturbating. A former prostitute, now a faithful Latter-day Saint, finds that some of her fellow congregants can't get beyond her past. A schizophrenic Single Adult leads a secret life no one in her congregation suspects.

In these short stories by ex-Mormon author Johnny Townsend, parents hire men to pose as the Three Nephites to teach their children the Book of Mormon is true. A shy single woman meets the man of her dreams at an endoscopy party.An anti-Mormon mob threatens a church outing. A deceased sinner plots to break out of Spirit Prison. Aliens visiting the UN reveal that God really does live on the planet Kolob. Mormons survive the zombie apocalypse because of their two-year supply of food. A young couple desperately try to escape after America becomes a theocracy.Another fun collection from the author of Recommended Daily Humanity and Please Evacuate.

Rural southern Mormons. Mormons with mental illness. Homeless Mormons. Ex-Mormons. Gay and trans Mormons. Mormon murderers. Mormon missionaries. Mormon missionaries who are murderers. There's something for everyone in this collection of short stories from the author of Mormon Underwear and Gayrabian Nights.

Mormons and ex-Mormons, gay and straight, faithful and faithless. In these stories by the author of Mormon Underwear, we see Latter-day Saint women organize a sex boycott to force their husbands to grant them the priesthood. Activists dump the bodies of gay suicides on church doorsteps. A young man fakes his missionary service while living overseas. A devout woman reaches the top tier of heaven but discovers the afterlife isn't quite what she expected. A Mormon advice columnist needs advice of his own. Missionaries in Rome rescue a trafficked woman. And a young couple sell all their church-related books and artwork at a Going-Out-Of-Religion sale. Sometimes poignant, sometimes amusing, Johnny Townsend's stories look beyond crisp white shirts and freshly baked cookies to reveal the inner secrets of LDS culture.

In these stories of gay Mormons, we see a young LDS man stripping to his Mormon underwear in public. We watch as a virginal 70-year-old finally gives in to temptation. A gay couple steals from the rich to support their favorite charities. A "secret combination" plots to put gay men into positions of power within the Church. A celibate 38-year-old dates a promiscuous porn reviewer. A schizophrenic man accustomed to hearing voices suddenly starts to receive real revelations. Gay hot tubs, gay bowling leagues, and gay missionaries await, whether you're wearing Mormon underwear or not.

On Gay Pride Day in 1973, an arsonist set the entrance to a French Quarter gay bar on fire. In the terrible inferno that followed, thirty-two people lost their lives, including a third of the local congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church, their pastor burning to death halfway out a second-story window as he tried to claw his way to freedom.A mother who'd gone to the bar with her two gay sons died alongside them. A man who'd helped his friend escape first was found dead near the fire escape. Two children waited outside a movie theater across town for a father and "uncle" who would never pick them up.During this era of rampant homophobia, several families refused to claim the bodies, while many churches refused to bury the dead. Author Johnny Townsend pored through old records and tracked down survivors of the fire as well as friends and relatives of those killed to compile the first full account of a forgotten moment in gay history. This second edition on the 50th anniversary of the fire includes additional research and information not available previously.

During the Apocalypse, a group of Mormon survivors in Hurricane, Utah gather in the home of the Relief Society president, telling stories to pass the time as they ration their food storage and await the Second Coming. But this is no ordinary group of Mormons-or perhaps it is. They are the faithful, feminist, gay, apostate, and repentant, all working together to help each other through the darkest days any of them have yet seen.

It's 1981, and two Mormon missionaries randomly assigned to work together as "companions" in Napoli find themselves in trouble. They're falling in love, but the Church forbids gay relationships. As missionaries, they can't date anyone at all, much less other men. If they're found out, they'll be excommunicated, sent home in disgrace, and cast out from their families.In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake, against a backdrop of poverty and repressive mission culture, Elders Grant and Mortensen knock on doors, endure violent assaults, and face the ultimate challenge-will they be crushed by dedication to their beliefs or will love provide a way for them to escape?

What's a gay Mormon missionary doing in Italy?He's trying to save his own soul as well as the souls of others, terrorized by homophobic doctrine into committing acts of cultural imperialism to prove his worthiness.In these tales chronicling the two-year mission of Robert Anderson, we see a young man tormented by his inability to be the man the Church says he should be. After enduring a major earthquake, encounters with organized crime, a serious bus accident, and conflicts with horrendous mission leaders, he dreams of nothing more than escaping his suffocating existence any way he can.But one day, he meets another missionary who loves him, and his world changes forever.

A gay, partygoing New Yorker unconcerned about the future or the unsustainability of capitalism is hit by a truck and thrust into a straight man's body half a continent away. As Hunter tries to figure out what's happening, he's caught up in another disaster, a wildfire sweeping through a Colorado community, the flames overtaking him and several schoolchildren as they flee.When he awakens, Hunter finds himself in the body of yet another man, this time in northern Italy, a former missionary about to marry a young Mormon woman. Still piecing together this new reality, and beginning to embrace his latest identity, Hunter fights for his life in a devastating flash flood along with his wife and his new husband. He's an aging worker in drought-stricken Texas, a nurse at an assisted living facility in the direct path of a hurricane, an advocate for the unhoused during a freak Seattle blizzard.We watch as Hunter is plunged into life after life, finally recognizing the futility of only looking out for #1 and understanding the part he must play in addressing the global climate crisis...if he ever gets another chance.

Gayrabian Nights is a twist on the well-known classic, 1001 Arabian Nights, in which Scheherazade, under the threat of death if she ceases to captivate King Shahryar's attention, enchants him through a series of mysterious, adventurous, and romantic tales. In this variation, a male escort, invited to the hotel room of a closeted, homophobic Mormon Republican senator, learns that the man is poised to vote on a piece of anti-gay legislation the following morning. To prevent him from sleeping, so that the exhausted senator will miss casting his vote on the Senate floor, the escort entertains him with stories of homophobia, celibacy, mixed orientation marriages, reparative therapy, coming out, first love, gay marriage, and long-term successful gay relationships. The escort crafts the stories to give the senator a crash course in gay culture and sensibilities, hoping to bring the man closer to accepting his own sexual orientation.

Todd Tillotson is struggling to move on after his husband is killed in a hit and run attack a year earlier during a Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle.In this novel set entirely on public transportation, we watch as Todd, isolated throughout the pandemic, battles desperation in his attempt to safely reconnect with the world.Will he find love again, even casual friendship, or will he simply end up another crazy old man on the bus?Things don't look good until a man whose face he can't even see sits down beside him despite the raging variants. And asks him a question that will change his life.

From over 500 short stories published over three decades, author Johnny Townsend presents several of his favorites.A gay couple steals from the rich to support their favorite charities.Two young women vie for the affection of the same missionary.A father with a speech impediment is forced into the spotlight after his daughter survives a school shooting.A reporter seeks the identity of Salt Lake's new superhero-a masked man wearing temples clothes who mysteriously shows up at crime scenes.Two young missionaries in the Pacific Northwest sneak out on a date.An uncle awaits word on his niece caught up in the 2004 tsunami.Missionaries in Rome try to prevent a terrorist bombing.Townsend's favorite stories celebrate life and love in a troubled world.

We don't need "affordable" healthcare. We need universal healthcare. We don't need "access" to education. We need tuition-free college and vocational training. Let's erase the weasel words and get right to the point. The only way any of us can live in a safe, healthy society is if we all do.Freedom and equity aren't free. Neither is a stable society. We must reduce the extraordinary amount we spend on the military and demand that the ultra-wealthy and corporations pay their fair share toward the public good.The alternative is to live in a country filled with poverty, homelessness, division, and unrest.Every worker needs a living wage. But more than that, we need a thriving wage, and Universal Basic Income is a practical starting point.We also need universal taxpayer-funded childcare and pre-k education, fare-free public transportation, automatic voter registration, elimination of the Electoral College, ranked choice voting, plus nationwide vote-by-mail as well as in-person voting.We must provide training and new job opportunities for workers who will be displaced from fossil fuel industries as we confront an ever-worsening climate crisis. Because leaving them to fend for themselves only guarantees failure. We pay for our choices, one way or another. Let's use our resources wisely.

When a homeless man is found murdered a few blocks from Morgan Beylerian's house in south Seattle, everyone seems to consider the body just so much additional trash to be cleared from the neighborhood. But Morgan liked the guy. They used to chat when Morgan brought Nick groceries once a week.And the brutal way the man was killed reminds Morgan of their shared Mormon heritage, back when the faithful agreed to have their throats slit if they ever revealed temple secrets.Did Nick's former wife take action when her ex-husband refused to grant a temple divorce? Did his murder have something to do with the public accusations that brought an end to his promising career?Morgan does his best to investigate when no one else seems to care, but it isn't easy as a man living paycheck to paycheck himself, only able to pursue his investigation via public transit.As he continues his search for the killer, Morgan's friends withdraw and his husband threatens to leave. When another homeless man is killed and Morgan is accused of the crime, things look even bleaker.But his troubles aren't over yet.Will Morgan find the killer before the killer finds him?

Are you biased? Am I?The short answer is yes. We all are.Having bias isn't a choice. We can't avoid it. We prefer members of our religion, our country, our political party, and speakers of our native language. We're taught bias by people who aren't conscious of their biases, and we in turn unintentionally pass them on to others.So it's not a "sin" to be biased. It's inevitable.What matters is not allowing our unchosen biases to exert absolute control over our decisions and behavior.To do that, however, we must recognize and accept them as real.In Racism by Proxy, essayist Johnny Townsend pushes past shame, guilt, insults, and other useless approaches to show how all of us, even white people of varying privilege, benefit from increasing equity and social justice throughout our communities.

Two Mormon missionaries in Italy discover they share the same rare ability-both can emit pheromones on demand. At first, they playfully compete in the hills of Frascati to see who can tempt "investigators" most. But soon they're targeting each other non-stop.Can two immature young men learn to control their "superpower" to live a normal life...and develop genuine love? Even as their relationship is threatened by the attentions of another man?They seem just on the verge of success when a massive earthquake leaves them trapped under the rubble of their apartment in Castellammare.With night falling and temperatures dropping, can they dig themselves out in time to save themselves? And will their injuries destroy the ability that brought them together in the first place?

A checklist of human rights must include basic housing, universal healthcare, equitable funding for public schools, and tuition-free college and vocational training.In addition to the fundamentals, though, we need much more to fully thrive. Subsidized childcare, universal pre-K, net neutrality, subsidized high-speed internet, a universal basic income, fare-free public transit (plus more public transit), and medically assisted death for the terminally ill who want it.None of this will matter, though, if we neglect to address the rapidly worsening climate crisis.Sound expensive? It is.But not as expensive as refusing to implement these changes. The cost of climate disasters each year has grown to staggering figures. And the cost of social and political upheaval from not meeting the needs of suffering workers, families, and individuals may surpass even that.It's best we understand that the vast sums required to enact meaningful change are an investment which will pay off not only in some indeterminate future but in fact almost immediately. And without these adjustments to our lifestyles and values, there very well may not be a future capable of sustaining freedom and democracy...or even civilization itself.