this just in from Karl Soehnlein:
Imagine being an out-of-the-closet queer in today’s Middle East. Yeah, I can’t either. But there’s at least one Arab organization that’s taking a stand for human rights for LGBT folks. It’s called Helem, and it’s the queer community center in Beirut, Lebanon. I’m part of a group of writers trying to raise money and awareness about Helem’s mission — things like decriminalizing sexual behavior and fighting cases of discrimination and persecution.

This Saturday, May 13, from 4-6 p.m. at A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books, Rabih Alameddine (author of “I, the Divine”) has gathered together a huge group of writers for a relay-reading and party. [I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be reading in the lineup]. Please take a little time out of your Saturday to stop by the bookstore — any time between 4-6 — and buy a signed copy of a book or a glass of wine. The money goes toward this important cause. After 6, the fun and fundraising continues at Restaurant Medjool (2522 Mission St. at 21st).

INFO from ACWLP:
Saturday, May 13 from 4 to 6 PM
A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books (at Opera Plaza)
601 Van Ness (bet. Golden Gate and Turk), San Francisco

Join literati Amy Tan, Dorothy Allison, Ayelet Waldman, Po Bronson, Rabih Alameddine, Kay Ryan, Justin Chin, Stephen Elliott, K.M. Soehnlein, ZZ Packer, Andrew Sean Greer, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Beth Lisick, Elizabeth Stark and Susanne Pari to raise money for Helem, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights organization in Lebanon.