Author Alex Sanchez on 'The God Box' (and His Other GLBT YA Novels)

Alex Sanchex, the Mexico City-born son of Cuban and German immigrants, is the prolific author of a number of young adult novels, such as the "Rainbow Trilogy" ("Rainbow Boys," "Rainbow High," and "Rainbow Road"), which explore the struggles of gay teens.

Indeed, gay religious teens are the focus of Sanchez's novel "The God Box,", a novel in which a young religious man meets an openly gay Latino his own age who opens his mind to the possibility that it's not only possible to be both gay and religious, it may indeed be the case that being gay and living a spiritual life are complementary to one another.

That novel inspired a drama coach in a Bay Area Catholic high school to adapt "The God Box" into a play, which has been performed around San Francisco--though a performance scheduled for the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in the Castro district was canceled on the orders of San Francisco's Archbishop, George Niederauer, who had taken a prominent role last year in the successful effort by anti-gay activists to pass Proposition 8 and revoke the right of gay and lesbian families to marry.

Sanchez's Web site offers visitors a plethora of resources, from information on banned books (his own works endure anti-gay challenges seeking to remove them from libraries) to links relevant to spirituality, to advice for aspiring young writers.

Alex Sanchez took a few minutes recently to respond to EDGE's email queries about the controversial play, the impact of his work on GLBT youth, and his next novel, due out in June.

EDGE: Your novel "The God Box" was adapted into a play by a drama teacher at a Catholic High School near San Francisco. Was this an official adaptation that you approved?

Alex Sanchez: The school originally invited to me to speak as part of their Equity, Justice, and Multicultural Education program. As a result of that, the drama teacher proposed a stage play adaptation and received the rights to do so.

EDGE: That play, "Be Still And Know," was denied permission to be performed at the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, the Catholic church in the Castro, by the Archbishop of San Francisco, who also had been active in promoting Proposition 8. (Note: The play was subsequently performed at the U. of San Francisco, a Catholic institution.) What is your reaction to such developments? Is it upsetting when the church takes aim at your work, or when people challenge the presence of your novels in school libraries?

Alex Sanchez: For sure it upsets me when my work is challenged-because I know from readers how inspiring and empowering my books can be. And I'm sure that's why the folks at the Catholic high school, church, and university felt strongly enough about the book/play's viewpoint to have it performed.

That gives me hope. It shows the Church is not a monolith. The church is the people of God-at least in theory.

EDGE: What is your take on Proposition 8? Is marriage equality something that should be a priority for the GLBT community when so many GLBT youth are still suffering so much?

Alex Sanchez: Issues of GLBT youth-and increasing numbers of straight youth who have GLBT friends and family members-remain hugely important. Unfortunately, however, as we witnessed in Prop 8's misleading inflammatory ads, anti-gay factions continue to use children as ammunition to fuel homophobic sentiment.

Although we need to address youth issues, the marriage equality issue has and will have an enormous impact on how GLBT (and straight) young people are treated.

EDGE: A review of one of your books on your web site praised you for your ability to address different aspects of identity: the review cited "spiritual, ethnic, and religious" identity as all being given equally deft treatment in "The God Box." How did you strike a balance among all those aspects of your own identity as a teen?

Alex Sanchez: Like many young GLBT people, I didn't strike a very good balance when I was young.

As a teen I was in the closet in terms of all three aspects of myself-my sexual orientation, my Latino heritage, and my spiritual struggles.

Now I get to "re-do" that through my writing, and help others who read my books to sort out their own conflicts.

EDGE: Another reviewer said he wished he'd had your books to read when he was a young adult. What do young people tell you about what your books mean to them? Do your books help GLBT kids accept themselves, or is it more about offering them a supportive voice and letting them know that one day they'll be in charge of their own lives and it's worth the pain and the wait to get to that point?

Alex Sanchez: All of the above! In spite of "Will & Grace" and tremendous strides in acceptance of gay people, many GLBT teens still feel isolated, alone, and hurting.

Readers email me (often daily) that my books help them to accept themselves, not feel alone, and get through tough times. And my biggest audience, straight teen girls (go figure) tell me how my books empower them to speak out for equal rights and start Gay-Straight Alliances in their schools.

EDGE: Your next book, due out in June, is called "Bait." That's a provocative title! Can you say anything about it at this point? And by the way, do you expect that you'll want to write an adult novel some day--or is there not such a great difference between an "adult" and a "young adult" book that it's even an issue?

Alex Sanchez: "Bait" explores the intersection of homophobia and sexual abuse. I suspect it, too, will be controversial.

In terms of "young adult" books, the biggest difference I see is that they feature teen protagonists. Other than that, they are often enjoyed by both teen and adult readers. (Think Harry Potter.)

My own books have a significant adult readership. Will I one day write about an adult protagonist? Maybe. For now, my muse remains a very vocal "inner teenager."