READING LIST | LGBTQ+ BOOKS AND AUTHORS -

I’m a little late to the party, but June is Pride Month! During the month of June every year, all over the world, people have a chance to celebrate LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming people and communities. There are festivals, parades, events and, in the bookish community, we like to celebrate by drawing attention to and reading books by and about members of these communities. So instead of a review this week, I’m posting a list of excellent books by and about LGBTQ+ and Nonbinary/Gender Nonconforming people.

As many of you are aware, the US has been pushing back hard against freedoms and support for members of these communities over the past year – and against Trans people in particular. This post isn’t a direct response to the specific attacks against Trans people (and youth in particular) or against members of the larger LGBTQ+ that have happened this year, but more a chance to raise awareness of both this and ongoing events – pretty much throughout history. LGBTQ+ people have been marginalized, attacked, refused service, denied, ignored, overlooked and judged all over the world, and with terrifying results (to both themselves and society at large). Most recently the TERF (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist) perspectives shared by certain celebrities and authors and laws that are being pushed in some states of the USA have stirred up more vitriol and violence, but it’s always there.

I’ve never understood what all the fuss is about. The only explanation I can come up with is that a) people are weird about sex, and some of the identities included in this are all about sexual identity and b) people fear what they don’t understand. And many, if not most, people don’t understand LGBTQ+ and gender non-conforming people in one way or several. I’d like to think that I’m more aware than most, that I’ve put more effort into understanding what it’s like to be Trans, for example, than most people have, but really I still have so much to learn. I’ve recently been reading Ivan E. Coyote’s work (so far Care Of is my favourite) and the result has been a realization that there are areas of life most people take for granted that are deeply affected by being Trans (or, more accurately, by the lack of space made in our society for gender non-conforming folks) that hadn’t even occurred to me. I want to learn more. I want to think about how everyday things like going to the bathroom are not simple when you’re Trans or Non-Binary. Which of the two binary options do you choose, and which, more to the point, will be safer? (If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, watch Ivan Coyote’s TED Talk here that will catch you up on why this issue is HUGE). I want to walk through my life looking for opportunities to raise issues as I see them and advocate for inclusion. This starts with ongoing learning so that I am aware of these opportunities to advocate.

This group of people have always been close to my heart. Mainly because I’ve had the privilege of counting several as friends or family. And because I just might be one. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I don’t think I quite fit into the neat little boxes I have tried to inhabit for most of my life. I’m somewhere on the gender spectrum, somewhere on the spectrum of sexual identity that definitely isn’t all the way over to the heterosexual end of it, but I still don’t know where exactly I land. One thing I do know, however, is that I have nothing but love and respect for the people whose identities have been more obvious, that have required loss, sacrifice and risk to acknowledge and inhabit. It’ll always be easier for me, no matter what my identity turns out to be, because it’s never going to go starkly against accepted norms. But for people who do have to contend with existing outside of the gender binary, or who are in queer relationships, there is always risk – though there really, really shouldn’t be.

This list is a compilation of some of the best and most educational books I’ve read, and some that have been recommended and discussed over and over again. I recommend reading some of these books even if you’re not immediately drawn to this topic. Because one thing I’ve noticed is that LGBTQ+ folks generally tend to have a keen eye for how people work. They tend to observe the human condition more acutely and have a better understanding of both the beautiful and horrific things people are capable of. I always come out of reading a book by or about LGBTQ+ people feeling like I’ve learned something about myself as well as the world, and like I’ve just been lucky enough to meet a person or a character who affected me deeply. There’s a certain scope of human understanding that can be found in the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, and I always end up better off for exploring their work. So here are some fantastic books I’ve read and plan to read that have so much to offer any reader, no matter your identity, experience, knowledge or interest. In each of these you will learn and, possibly, you’ll see yourself reflected back from the page – whoever you are.

Note: This is a living list that I plan to edit and add to as time goes by. It’s not complete now (it doesn’t even include all the books I’ve come across or read that fit the category), but I wanted to publish it during Pride month! If you have suggestions of great books by LGBTQ+ authors or that are about LGBTQ+ characters, history or issues, please drop them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

Memoir:

All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson

All the Young Men – Ruth Coker Burks

The Appendix: Transmasculine Joy in a Transphobic Culture – Liam Konemann

The Argonauts – Maggie Nelson

Before Night Falls – Reinaldo Arenas (read but not reviewed)

Beyond the Gender Binary – Alok Vaid-Menon, Ashley Lukashevsky

Boy Erased – Garrard Conley

Care Of, Tomboy Survival Guide, Gender Failure, Rebent Sinner, One In Every Crowd and everything else by Ivan (E.) Coyote

Continuum – Chella Man, Ashley Lukashevsky

Fairest – Meredith Talusan

Here For It – R. Eric Thomas