Stack your reading list for Pride Month and beyond with these 11 new titles chronicling the struggles and celebrations of the Queer community.
The First Homosexuals: The Birth of a New Identity 1869-1939 by Jonathan D. Katz | Phaidon
An unprecedented and historic new book, The First Homosexuals traces the evolution of the homosexual identity through an archive of more than 300 paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints, photographs, and film stills from around the world – many presented in a queer, global, and colonial context for the first time.
Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places by Marc Zinaman | Prestel
This sprawling, unique visual history of New York City’s queer spaces documents the evolution of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism within Manhattan’s dynamic landscape over the course of a century, spanning from 1920 to 2020.
What Is Queer Food?: How We Served a Revolution by John Birdsall | W. W. Norton & Company
The food on our plates has long been designed, twisted, and elevated by queer hands. Piecing together a dazzling mosaic of queer lives, spaces, and meals, beloved food writer John Birdsall unfolds the complex story of how, through times of fear and persecution, queer people used food to express joy and build community — and ended up changing the shape of the table for everyone.
Making the Case for Equality: 50 Years of Legal Milestones in LGBTQ History by Jennifer C. Pizer and Ellen Ann Andersen | Monacelli
Lambda Legal, the pioneering non-profit legal organization, opened its half-century of archives to create a coffee-table book commemorating its 50th anniversary. Dozens of ‘game-changing’ legal cases winning and shaping the civil rights of the LGBTQ community are presented alongside a collection of curated archival material and historical images, chronicling the history and vital mission of the organization to advocate for the free and equal lives of LGBTQ people and people living with HIV.
LOVE: The Heroic Stories of Marriage Equality by Frankie Frankeny, with John Casey | Rizzoli
Celebrating the history of the LGBTQ+ community’s marriage equality movement from the 1950s until today, this triumphant journey is presented in compelling stories of the pioneering couples, along with winning photographs.
Queer Moderns: Max Ewing’s Jazz Age New York by Alice T. Friedman | Princeton University Press
In Queer Moderns, Alice Friedman tells the fascinating story of the queer avant-garde of the 1920s and ’30s in New York, Paris, and Venice, as seen through the eyes of Max Ewing (1903–1934), a young musician, photographer, and man-about-town who, although virtually unknown today, moved in extraordinary circles.
Contested Curriculum: LGBTQ History Goes to School by Don Romesburg | Rutgers University Press
Today, many states have proposed so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bills that prohibit public school teachers from mentioning LGBTQ topics in the classroom. But a few states, like California, have taken decisive steps in the other direction. They mandate inclusive education that treats LGBTQ history as essential to the curriculum. At once a history of an evolving movement and an activist handbook, Contested Curriculum navigates the rocky path to LGBTQ-inclusive K–12 history education in the United States and recounts the fight for a curriculum that recognizes the value of queer and trans lives.
So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color by Caro De Robertis | Algonquin Books
From the acclaimed novelist, a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of trans and gender nonconforming elders of color—from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens—who tell their own stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance.
Potluck Desserts: Joyful Recipes to Share with Pride by Justin Burke | Countryman Press
Justin Burke credits his first queer potluck with changing his life. Gathering around a table piled high with homemade food evoked a sense of unity that bridged individuals beyond societal norms, sparking within him a passion for food that launched his career as a baker. Now a potluck pro, Burke shares his playful, delicious recipes in Potluck Desserts.
Sick and Dirty: Hollywood’s Gay Golden Age and the Making of Modern Queerness by Michael Koresky | Bloomsbury Publishing
A blazingly original history celebrating the persistence of queerness onscreen, behind the camera, and between the lines during the dark days of the Hollywood Production Code.
Before Gender: Lost Stories from Trans History, 1850-1950 by Eli Erlick | Beacon Press
Highlighting influential individuals from 1850–1950 who are all but unknown today, Eli Erlick shares 30 remarkable stories from romance to rebellion and mystery to murder. These narratives chronicle the grit, joy, and survival of trans people long before gender became an everyday term.
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