Looking for a genre

[eawen-penallion.livejournal.com]

I love fics with the guys in an established relationship, or 'older boys' stories. Of the many I have read recently, most of them contain the dilemma of being 'outed' as being in a gay relationship and B &D often discuss whether to tell Cowley or not. The supposed /perceived view of that era was the premise that a gay man or couple in a high profile job would be a potential security risk due to the possibility of blackmail.

So I am wondering - are there any fics out there that deal specifically of the boys being outed, either with or without Cowley and the Establishment's prior knowledge of the relationship? A full 's**t has hit the fan' tale with newspaper reports, photos, being tailed by reporters, family anguish, call for public enquiries and questions in Parliament? How would that affect CI5 and the A Squad? What pressure would be on Doyle and Bodie and would they hold together or fall apart?

Does anyone know of such a fic? Or want to pick up this hopping bunny :-) ?

Comments

Pros stories with public outing

[taverymate.livejournal.com]

That's the basic premise of Nina Boal's Pros zine, Shadows Over the Land. Nina sets it amongst the politics of early AIDS activisim. It was published in 1992, by her own Other Times and Places Press. Kathy Resch still puts out an authorized reprint. You can order it from Kathy via email (Kathleener at AOL dot com), get it from her at cons, or also order it from Mysti Frank at Agent With Style. Current cost is about $12-$18 depending on if you pick it up at con or have to pay postage.

Agent With Style's site - Pros zines, alphabetized by title:
http://www.agentwithstyle.com/pros.htm

ETA Fixed typos & added link

Re: Pros stories with public outing

[eawen-penallion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I've never bought a Pros zine, so I will have to look into it :-)

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

What beautiful timing. Do you know about the Reading Room over in ci5hq? Every Thursday we discuss a story. And there are themes. We've just been looking at third-party points of view; and the next theme is "stories where the lads are outed". What "outed" means will doubtless be open to debate - I suggested it, and I know what I mean, but who knows what other people think. At the start of a theme, we try to suggest as many stories as possible that fit it. So if you wait a week or two... :)

Nina Boal's Shadows Across The Land is not online, but I just bought a second-hand copy so it's certainly floating about. (*eyes postbox hopefully*). It's an expansion of a shorter story which is online, if I could only remember the author or title.

M Fae Glasgow's pair of stories: A Summer's Outing and Devices and Desires in the Oblique zine As A Three Pound Note. The PDFs of the entire zine and its sequels are at http://www.oblique-publications.net/zines/notes.html

One of them is outed in M Fae Glasgow again: A Call Of Nature (genius title) in Pæan to Priapus IV: PDFs again online - http://www.oblique-publications.net/zines/paean.html#ptopiv

Shall have a think for more. I think there are more where the outing is to Cowley, who then has to make decisions. Not so many where they are all over the press.

Oh! Press! One story where they are being tailed by reporters, and they do know about it and are not pleased, is byslantedlight's Who Caught And Sang The Sun (http://hatstandfic.net/viewstory.php?sid=583) . Less panic about outing, because times are different, but if you haven't read this and you like older lads, you must.

[eawen-penallion.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much - I will definitely follow these up!

[moonlightmead.livejournal.com]

Aha, got it. This is the one which expanded into Shadows Over The Land: A Time To Grieve (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/10/atime.html) by Susan Douglass. The outing is dealt with in about a paragraph ("Ray's involvement as a gay man had been uncovered; a reporter had trailed him going to certain pubs in off-duty hours. Cowley had been forced to ask for his resignation...") and the bulk of the story is about what he is doing subsequently. SotD goes much more into the shit hitting the fan.

[eawen-penallion.livejournal.com]

Thank you again - I've just read the short story and it definitely makes me interested in getting the 'zine. I have to admit that it makes me sick that such a hypocritical and separatist attitude was taken towards the gay community in the early days of AIDS awareness - thankfully faded by now if not entirely gone.

I work in a hospital which has a large section devoted to immunology, plus the consultant and nurse in my department are gay, and my wife is trans. It's a subject which certainly resonates with me...