LGBTQ+ History Month: Books You Should Read
Photo by Jakayla Toney on Unsplash
February is LGBTQ+ History Month: a time for us to highlight queer history in all its glory; to commemorate times of both struggle and celebration. As we remember those who have come before us, and highlight the continued resistance of those who still face discrimination and abuse today, we can better understand that we belong to a broad history of brave and beautiful people.
Books can help us to expand our understanding of each other beyond our own experience. With that in mind, we’ve chosen a few of our favourite LGBTQ+ books – both fiction and nonfiction, some new and some old – that you should add to your reading list this year.
The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice, by Shon Faye (2021)
Shon Faye’s message is clear from the first line of her book: “The liberation of trans people would improve the lives of everyone in our society.” Through her methodical and thorough breakdown of the stark realities faced by trans people, Faye presents a powerful argument against the moral panic and culture war surrounding ‘the transgender issue’, especially in the UK. This book is an absolute must-read for anyone striving to be a better ally to trans people today.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong (2019)
This book is as stunning as it is heartbreaking. Vuong’s semi-autobiographical novel takes the form of a letter to his mother who cannot read, and his explorations of abuse, addiction, sexuality, and grief are conveyed with staggering lyricism. This queer coming-of-age story is woven together with the experiences of his mother and grandmother, as their post-war trauma is combined with the hardship and exploitation they face as Vietnamese immigrants in the USA. Through his novel, Vuong looks deep into the cruelty of life, and he refuses to be afraid of what he finds.
Under the Udala Trees, by Chinelo Okparanta (2015)
“Because a new change was looming, and I was finding myself forced to acknowledge that the limit of my imagination was by no means the limit of the world.”
Written and published against the backdrop of Nigeria increasing the severity of its anti-gay laws, Chinelo Okparanta presents a coming-of-age novel set during the Nigerian Civil War. Okparanta skillfully balances the love story with the war story, as she focuses on a young Igbo woman who grapples with her faith, sexuality, and family. In a culture hostile to homosexuality, living and loving openly is dangerous, yet Okparanta instils a glimpse of hope into her protagonist’s pursuit of a joyful and fulfilling life.
Stone Butch Blues, by Leslie Feinberg (1993)
“I've been going to the library, looking up our history. There's a ton of it in anthropology books, a ton of it, Ruth. We haven't always been hated. Why didn't we grow up knowing that?”
In this essential exploration of the lesbian and trans experience, Feinberg’s novel follows the life of Jess Goldberg, a working class and gender non-conforming butch lesbian in the 1950s. Expressing the horrors of police brutality and the tenderness of found families through queer community, this is a powerful novel about resistance.
Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde (1984)
It’s impossible to choose just one Audre Lorde text to put on this list, so we’ll preface this with: read everything. Sister Outsider is a collection of essays and speeches in which Lorde critiques the mostly white, academic community of second-wave feminists in the late 70s and 80s for their narrow-minded approach to liberation. Lorde’s writing centres the black lesbian experience, and she radically reimagines alternative ways to dismantle patriarchal structures. Lorde’s work is just as sharp and potently relevant today as when it was first published, making it a definite must-read.
Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin (1956)
As a classic of gay literature, this book is likely to be found on most must-read lists. Set in 1950s Paris, the novel recounts the fraught love affair between the American narrator, David, and Giovanni, an Italian bartender. David tells the tale of their relationship leading up to “the most terrible morning of my life”, which we soon find out marks the day of Giovanni’s execution. Grappling with structures of masculinity, desire, and shame, Giovanni’s Room is a triumph of literature.
Orlando, by Virginia Woolf (1928)
A novel that is both a masterpiece of modernist fiction and a queer love letter wins my heart any day of the week. Inspired by and written for Vita Sackville-West, with whom Woolf shared an enduring romantic affair, Orlando spans almost 400 years in the life of its titular protagonist. In this playful project, Orlando begins as an English nobleman under the reign of Elizabeth I, and ends up as a married woman in 1928. Sackville-West's son himself described the book as ‘the longest and most charming love letter in literature’. It’s not an easy read, but perhaps it’s time to give this one a go — right in time for Valentine’s Day.
