For Pride Month 2021, our rec posts are taking a bit of a different shape. Over the course of June, we’ll have nine posts for you (of which this is, obviously, the first) in which we rec books where LGBT-ness intersects with another identity, be it race, disability or religion. These posts are only intended as starter packs, mind, and we’re going to try include books that may be less talked about. Ideally, we’ll have read most of the books we’re reccing, but sometimes that might not be the case (in a way, these are as much lists for ourselves as for you!).
And, also, a brief note on “ownvoices” (or however you wish to refer to it): all of the books we rec are (for the most part—there are a handful of exceptions though) by authors who ID as LGBT, although maybe not the specific identity of their characters. The other part of the intersection will more strictly match up with the character’s identity (within reason, i.e. whether the author talks about it specifically in terms of themself).
In the case of this list, we’ve used flag emojis to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.
All of the series: East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.
And, if after reading this you’re looking for more LGBT lit by African authors, let us point you in the direction of this list.
Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn (sapphic mcs) 🇯🇲
The Unbroken by C. L. Clark (lesbian mc, bi mc)
La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, trans. by Laurence Schimel (lesbian mc, gay character) 🇬🇶
Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (lesbian mc, lesbian characters) 🇳🇬
The Last One by Fatima Daas, trans. by Lara Vergnaud (lesbian mc) 🇩🇿 🏹
Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender (sapphic mc) 🇻🇮
Sweethand by N. G. Peltier (bi mc, lesbian characters) 🇹🇹
In Another Place, Not Here by Dionne Brand (lesbian mc) 🇬🇩
Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh (lesbian mc) 🇳🇬 🏹
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (bi mc) 🇬🇭 🏹
Some of Us Did Not Die by June Jordan (essays) 🇯🇲 🏹
Mangos and Mistletoe by Adriana Herrera (sapphic mcs) 🇩🇴
She Called Me Woman ed. by Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan & Aisha Salau (essays) 🇳🇬
Every Dark Desire by Fiona Zedde (lesbian mc) 🇯🇲
Stories of Our Lives by The Nest Collective (essays) 🇰🇪
The Quiet Violence of Dreams by K. Sello Duiker (gay mc) 🇿🇦
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (nonbinary mc) 🇳🇬
Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala (gay mc) 🇳🇬 🏹
Such a Lonely, Lovely Road by Kagiso Lesego Molope (gay mc) 🇿🇦
A Country for Dying by Abdellah Taïa, trans. by Emma Ramadan (trans mc, gay mc) 🇲🇦
Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (gay character) 🇺🇬
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa al Aswany, trans. by Humphrey T. Davies (gay mc) 🇪🇬
The Fat Lady Sings by Jacqueline Roy (lesbian mc with bipolar disorder) 🇯🇲 🏹
Trans: Transgender Life Stories from South Africa ed. by Ruth Morgan, Charl Marais & Joy Rosemary Wellbeloved (essays) 🇿🇦
Sierra Selena vestida de pena by Mayra Santos-Febres, trans. by Stephen A. Lytle (gay mc & side characters) 🇵🇷
For Sizakele by Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene (lesbian mc) 🇳🇬
Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi (Ogbanje mc, sapphic mc & side characters, nonbinary side character) 🇳🇬
Refuse by Julian Randall (poetry)
Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton (nonfiction)
Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean (gay, lesbian, & nonbinary characters)
