Home town boy Frank Anthony Polito was featured at book-signing events in Ann Arbor and Royal Oak (Five15 Media, Mojo, More...After Dark) on June 11 and 12, 2008 to announce the release of his first novel Band Fags.  The Ann Arbor event was sponsored by Common Language Bookstore and included wine, hors’dourves, a book reading by Frank, and rousing band music played by the Great Lakes Pride Band from Lansing, Michigan.

Band Fags tells a story which is set in the 1980’s and is located in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.  Frank Anthony Polito is Michigan born and bred, a native of Hazel Park, Michigan and bases Band Fags on his own experiences growing up in Michigan.  The book is jam packed with references to Michigan locations and businesses and will bring an immediate sense of comfortable familiarity to the Michigan reader in this story of two gay male friends that unfolds over the awkward adolescent years of high school.  The two young men play musical instruments and meet and become friends through their high school’s band.                                                                                                                                                                   

I was able to speak with Frank and found him to be genuine, warm, and humble; a nice guy without a hint of pretension.  Frank indicated that the most commonly asked question he received is: “how much of the book is autobiographical?”  As expected, this question was asked at the Ann Arbor event and Frank replied: “about 45%” explaining that some of Band Fags characters are composites based on multiple people and the details of some of the described incidents have been edited for literary reasons. 

Coming out is one of the issues explored in Band Fags and Frank indicated some “younger gays” have questioned the drama over accepting oneself as gay and have expressed a “just get over it” attitude.  He explains that the story is set in the 1980’s and homosexuality was not as accepted as it is today and I agree with Frank.  Homosexuality was considered to be a mental illness until 1973 and the belief that members of the GLBTQ community were mentally sick deviants permeated the general population for many years following the official dismissal of this prejudice.  Homosexuality was once known as “the love that dare not mention its name.”  Of course today it has become “the love that won’t shut-up,” but that is another story to be saved for another day.

The Great Lakes Pride Band was included and provided musical entertainment for this event.  The Great Lakes Pride Band is a group of GLBTQ people who promote the GLBTQ community through their delightful music and was enjoyed by all who attended.  Information regarding the Great Lakes Pride Band is available at www.greatlakesprideband.org.