Resource Update: 10 Books with Great Queer Representation

Happy Pride Month!

Many barriers have stood in the way of LGBTQ2IA+ representation in the media. Historically, queerness in Western countries has been often been treated as criminal, taboo, underground, or devilish, limiting our ability to name queer identities or live openly. In the United States, for example,  same-sex relationships were only decriminalized on a federal level in 2003, but many other queer identities and aspects of queer culture continue to face legal challenges in a variety of states. Media representation has been slow to follow, perhaps in part, due to the enduring effects of the Hays Code, a self-imposed moral code that governed the entertainment industry from 1934-1968. This code strictly limited the kinds of people that could be represented in film and television. Similarly, the Comic Book Authority censored the comic book industry through the Comics Code of 1954. These morality codes heavily impacted queer representation in entertainment and the legacy continues today.

In recent years, we've seen a rise in books with LGBTQ2IA+ representation being challenged or removed from bookshelves. Because of the limitations put on LGBT+ representation in the past, much of the openly queer literature available to readers is new. This presents an interesting problem. Most of these books have not been around long enough to be considered classics or two be used as teaching tools, so they are often not available in online libraries which tend to focus on classics and books that have outlived their copyright. If you live in an area with more liberal leanings, you may be able to find queer books curated at your local library, but if not, where do you go? It's a tricky question with a tricky answer, but I'll try to unpack it in the article at the link below, where I share 10 book with queer representation and places you can find them. Click the link to learn more.