It’s June, aka Pride Month, and you know what that means… Target will have LGBTQIA2S+ themed shirts that will say something worth cringing about; Cafés will have a small rainbow flag on their windows so you know you will be able to order a non-discriminatory latte; corporate offices will share a recycled uplifting message about how “love is love.” Love is love, yes indeed, and so is existing as queer every day of the year, not just in June.
According to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), there are currently 588 anti-LGBTQIA2S+ bills that have been proposed in the United States thus far. There are people in this country challenging our very right to exist, from youth, to adults, to older adults/elders. Many of these bills are based on the myth of the “gay agenda,” a stereotype that heterosexual individuals have pushed forward, deeming queer people as trying to “convert youth and other persons into homosexuality.” I, for one, would say this agenda is…
Expanding educational curriculums to explore gender, sexuality, and expression – all very human things that exist in and outside of the binary – is simply paving the way for more generations to be open-minded and acknowledge the identities and people that exist in the world. Why is that so wrong? Time and time again, we have seen different terms and expressions be reclaimed, and if you really want to know what the gay agenda is, I see it as queer folks, allies, and accomplices advocating for our right to exist in this heteronormative society.
One way to engage with queer history is to read queer literature. There is so much out there available to us that it could be overwhelming, and you must be thinking:
Luckily, I got some recommendations for you! You can obtain copies of these recs via Thriftbooks, Bluestockings Collective, Housing Works Bookstore, or your local library!
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
- Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker
- Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique by Sa’ed Atshan
- Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
- Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton
- All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
- We Have Always Been Here by Samara Habib
- A Quick and Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities by Mady G
If there is any literature that you have explored that you do not see listed here, please let me know! I will add it to my personal to- read list, and also explore obtaining a copy for our community library where you can read books of varying genres- many of which discuss the intersections of queer identity with other identities.
What I hope for you, the reader, to take from this post, is bigger than a great book and reading to learn. Queer people do exist, have existed for a long time, and have every right to exist.
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