Memoirs by LGBTQ Leaders

Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Colour by Gilbert Baker

• Baker is the creator of the rainbow flag and an activist for LGBTQ Rights.

A Wild and Precious Life by Edie Windsor with Joshua Lyon

• Windsor was the plaintiff in United States v. Windsor which was a key Supreme Court case on the road to legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States.

Surpassing Certainty by Janet Mock

• Mock is a writer, editor, producer, director and activist for trans rights.

High School: A Memoir by Tegan and Sara Quin

• Tegan and Sara are identical twins and musicians.

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

• Doyle is a writer, non-profit manager, and activist.

When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Cullors

• Cullors is one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter organization.

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

• Castillo is a poet advocate for undocumented people in the United States.

Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home by Leah Lakshmi Piepszna-Samarasinha

•  Piepszna-Samarasinha is a poet, writer, and disability justice advocate.

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

• Twitty is a James Beard Award-Winning food writer, chef, activist, and historical interpreter. 

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

• Bechdel is a cartoonist and writer. Fun Home was made into a Tony Award Winning musical of the same name.

Books Featuring LGBTQ Characters Set Outside of the U.S.

Under the Udala Trees (Nigeria) - Chinelo Okparanta

• Under the Udala Trees tells the story of a young woman coming of age, discovering her sexuality, and falling in love in the midst of the Nigerian Civil War.

A People’s History of Heaven (India) - Mathangi Subramanian

• As the local government threatens to destroy a slum called Heaven, 5 young women refuse to be silenced as they grow into their identities and protect the place they call home.

Infidels (Morocco) - Abdellah Taia

• Abdellah Taia takes us back to his Moroccan hometown to chronicle the life of Jallal, the gay son of a sex worker, as he figures out his own identity, faces discrimination and violence, and navigates an unjust world. 

Tahuri (New Zealand) - Ngahuia Te Awekotuku 

• Ngahuia Te Awekotuku is best known for her academic writings on Maori culture and her lifelong activism for the rights of Maori people, LGBTQ folks, and women. Tahuri is a collection of connected short stories about a young Maori woman coming of age.

When Fox is a Thousand (China & Canada) - Larissa Lai

• Alternating between the perspectives of a mystical thousand-year-old fox, a ninth-century Chinese poet, and a young Chinese-Canadian woman, When Fox is a Thousand is a remarkable work of magical realism centring 3 queer female voices.

Women Loving: Stories and a Play (Philippines) - Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz

• Women Loving is the first single-author anthology of lesbian themed writing from the Philippines, and tells a number of stories of women and their relationships

Historical Fiction Featuring Queer Characters

Queer people have existed throughout history, but like many marginalized groups, they are often left out of the stories, real or imagined, about the past. These books give readers a window into a history that includes some of the people and perspectives that are often missing from popular historical narratives. 

Heresy by Melissa Lenhardt (American West during the Gold Rush)

• While Westerns can be a hyper-masculine genre, Heresy is a Western that firmly centers the voices of women. The Parker-LaCour Gang and their affiliates include women of color, trans folks, and queer women, all of whom are defiant badasses standing up to the men who seek to take away their power.

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifke Brunt (1980s New York)

• This novel is a heart-wrenching story of grief, loss, and love during the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. It is unique in that the devastation of the epidemic is seen through the eyes of a young girl who loses her beloved uncle, and finds friendship in the love of his life who was always hidden from her. 

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (1920s London)

• Set in the aftermath of WWI in London England, The Paying Guests is a novel of intense detail that begins with a slow burn and accelerates into a thrilling plot of a classic love triangle with a twist. It takes a while to get going but once it does, it weaves together elements of a thriller and a romance into a real page-turner. 

Prairie Ostrich by Tomai Kobayashi (1970s rural Canada)

• Prairie Ostrich is the story of the only Japanese family in a small town in the Canadian West. Eight-year-old Egg has a lot to figure out about the world, from the death of her older brother, her sister’s queer identity, and the racism that she experiences in school.This book is a look inside her mind that reads authentically well.

Cantoras: A Novel by Carolina de Robertis (1970s Uruguay)

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite (Regency England)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Ancient Greece)

• Madeline Miller is a high school classics teacher who puts a refreshing spin on an ancient tale. This retelling of Homer’s Iliad is told from the perspective of Achilles’ best friend Patroclus, and shows the love between the two ill-fated heroes.

Ruby by Cynthia Bond (1950s American South and New York City)

SciFi and Fantasy Featuring LGBTQ Characters

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova (YA Fantasy)

• The first book in the Brooklyn Brujas trilogy is about a bisexual Latina bruja (witch) who wants to get rid of her powers to be normal, but ends up casting a spell that makes things a lot stranger and a lot worse.

The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan (Dystopia)

The Sidekick Squad Series by C. B. Lee (YA Science Fiction)

• Set in the near-ish future, C.B. Lee has created a world where humans have developed superpowers and climate change has wreaked havoc on the world. The main characters are all queer people of color, trying to get through their late teens without their lives being upended by literal villains. 

Finna by Nino Cipri (Science Fiction)

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (Fantasy? This book is unlike anything else)

• Freshwater is nearly impossible to describe. It explores gender, trauma, growth, mental illness, and identity through the fractured selves contained within the main character, Ada. 

Mooncakes by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker (Fantasy)

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (Science Fiction)

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (Fantasy)

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (Dystopia)