In the newly released Love, Blood and Rhinestones, Chicago LGBTQ activist Bryant McLemore Smith takes the collective voices of African American men and women in the LGBTQ community who’ve suffered same-sex abuse but ultimately triumphed in their quest to live authentic, shame-free lives.

“The release of the book seems well-timed given recent events,” said McLemore Smith. “My hope is that the stories will inspire the scores and scores of gay men and women who’ve been unable to overcome the hatred and ridicule directed at them by friends, families, colleagues, and strangers as well as the self-defeating behaviors that prevent them from being—and living—as they truly are.”

In 26 chapters, Love, Blood and Rhinestones tells the intimate and painful, but honest stories of McLemore Smith and others who were caught in a storm for the fight of their lives. The book brings to the surface messages that are traditionally unheard, ignored and otherwise sidelined. 

Raw scenes in an emergency room, dialogue that is both disturbing and illuminating, and feelings excavated from
the deepest—and darkest—places all contribute to the book’s accessibility and the power to teach. 

Asked about the name on the book’s cover, McLemore Smith offers a sobering explanation. “ ‘D. Lynn Baldwin’ is really a composite of people, including me, who want to share our experiences in story form,” he said. “The format as well as the collective voices is for many readers a more palatable and informative way to convey what has been a very taboo subject for way too long.”

For his contributions to Love, Blood and Rhinestones, McLemore, who’s also a well-known Chicago wardrobe stylist, writes deftly about human longing and human failing. “I never wanted to become anembittered and beaten man,” he said. “But at the same time I don’t believe it’s right or constructive to bury and otherwise ignore an issue that still plagues people everywhere. 

Yes, we unveil several ugly truths about same-sex abuse, but unless we do that we can’t, as a society, move toward understanding and tolerance.”