This week, we are reading Asian authors in honor of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. There’s another important day this week, too – the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. I support our friends and family in the LGBTQ+ community and hope they can see me as an ally. As part of that, I think we should specifically call out authors in that community and works where LGBTQ+ characters are accurately and respectfully portrayed in a way that brings understanding and knowledge to the general public. It’s also a great time to look at these lists as we near Pride Month in June!
Writers
When you start to consider writers in the LGBTQ+ community, it can be easy to overlook some of the big names in classical literature and focus only on more recent and prominent names. Reading these voices is especially important to be because books open a world of understanding that you cannot get from other sources. Some of these authors’ works help me understand the community in ways that interviews, or personal interactions may not – the works are both more revealing and carry a different intimacy than you would get from conversations with someone you’re not that familiar with. Here’s a few from literature you may not know are members of this community:
- Darcy Little Badger
- DH Lawrence
- H.E. Edgmon
- Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Langston Hughes
- Lorraine Hansberr
- Oscar Wilde
- Tennesse Williams
- Truman Capote
- Virginia Woolf
- Walt Whitman
I also find it interesting to look at books from both authors like those above, and those who are allies, but not in the community themselves. These books show the characters in ways that serve to educate and normalize their inclusion in the world around us:
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg
- Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult & Jennifer Finney Boylan (review here)
- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson
- Orlando, Virigina Woolf
- The Color Purple, Alice Walker (review here)
- The Guncle, Steven Rowley
- The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
If you’re looking for autobiographies by LGBTQ+ writers, try these on:
- All Boys Aren’t Blue, George M Johnson
- Being Jazz, Jazz Jennings
- Everything I Learned, I Learned at a Chinese Restaurant, Curtis Chin (review here)
- Out East, John Glynn
- Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love, Jonathan Van Ness
- We Have Always Been Here, Samra Habib
- Wild Dances, William Lee Adams (review here)
Big shout out to my eldest child and the community they found at college this year for helping me put this list together. I am in awe of y’all and the strength you have individually, and together. I’m always here for mom hugs, fresh baked cookies, and a homecooked meal when you need them 💜
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What I’m Reading
- Current print book: A Happier Life, Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Current audio book: The Guncle, Steven Rowley
- Book I’m most looking forward to: Legends of the Fall, Jim Harrison
Read With Lindsey 