PRIDE MONTH 2024! Coming out is likely always going to be a momentous event for many but to do so within the context of a religiously strict family environment adds an added element of the fraught to the mix. In Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood Lonnie Mann looks back on his younger years as part of an orthodox Jewish community, his early realisations that he was gay, and how that impacted on his family and school life.
Living a life of devout religious observance means that for Lonnie his life is one of regular rituals and enforced organisation. At his school at a yeshiva he has no choice but to hide his sexuality and this fear of discovery informs his behaviour; a sense of repression that threatens to end friendships and leaves him questioning his spiritual upbringing. He describes his coming to terms with his sexuality as an “underwhelming epiphany”, even though its ramifications will go on to majorly influence and sometimes even control his interactions with everyone around him.
Mann’s coming out in a world where being gay is considered an unforgivable sin by those he has been taught to respect is a particularly difficult one. With parents who either believe he is confused or want to believe he is confused, Lonnie must rely on the discretion of a small group of friends as his confidantes. Gaytheist provides a quietly powerful study of loneliness, identity and self-acceptance that is depicted with sensitivity and a melancholy that eventually evolves into a burgeoning sense of hope.
The art by Mann and Ryan Gatts has an uncomplicated immediacy that leans heavily into visual characterisation and roots the reader fully in the young Lonnie’s experiences. It’s a style that allows us to feel intimately invested in his story as a result. Colouring choices too anchor us to Lonnie as a character, with an often muted use centring him on the page and darker hues creating a sense of tension and sometimes even despair at appropriate points. As Lonnie becomes more accepting of his identity and future the colours open up into a wider and more vibrant palette as we observe an increasingly confident young man in the company of his new, supportive “found family.”
While Gaytheist doesn’t exactly end abruptly it does leave us with many questions unanswered, particularly in relation to Mann’s relationship with his parents and whether they ever accepted his sexuality. But this is autobiography, after all, and real life doesn’t work in neat narrative denouements. Further confirmation, if it was needed, that Street Noise Books continue to be one of the most socially relevant publishers in comics.
Lonnie Mann (W/A), Ryan Gatts (A) • Street Noise Books, $23.99
Review by Andy Oliver
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