Collection: Shop Queer

Movies and memory intersect in this compelling and unconventional memoir from queer writer, film aficionado, and Jeopardy! contestant Charles Jensen. Splice of Life follows Jensen from his upbringing and struggles with sexual awareness in rural Wisconsin to his sexual liberation in college and, finally, to the complex relationships and bizarre coincidences of adulthood. Exploring what it means to be male and queer, each essay splices together Jensen's lived experiences with his analysis of a single film. Deftly woven, Splice of Life shows us how personal and cultural memory intertwine, as well as how the stories we watch can help us understand the stories we all tell about ourselves.

A tour de force of narrative nonfiction, a reimagining of the self-help genre, and a brave memoir about mystical forces, trauma, trans life, and how we must heal ourselves to survive.

For readers of memoirs by Elliot Page (Pageboy) and Elissa Washuta (White Magic), and fans of writers like Carmen Maria Machado, Samantha Hunt, and Chavisa Woods.

In Breaking the Curse, Alex DiFrancesco takes their own crushing experiences of assault, addiction, and transphobic violence as the starting point for a journey to self-reclamation. Reeling in the aftermath of a rape that played out as painfully in public as in private, DiFrancesco begins to pursue spirituality in earnest, searching for an ancestral connection to magic as a form of protection and pathway to transformation. Propelled by a knowledge of the spiritual role of the transgender person in society, Alex winds through Cleveland and Brooklyn and Philly--from rehab and pagan AA meetings and friends' spare mattresses to tarot readers and books about Italian witchcraft to daily ritual, prayer, altar-making, and folk tradition. In so doing, they begin to not only piece together a way to heal but also call into existence a life that finally feels worth living.

Breaking the Curse weaves spells, blasphemous novenas, and personal memories to imagine a new memoir form. Speaking about trauma does not always take its power away, DiFrancesco reminds us, but one can write their truth so that the hurt no longer fills the whole horizon.

"'I see this world as few others do, ' writes Alex DiFrancesco, and thank goodness for that. In their memoir, Breaking the Curse, DiFrancesco offers readers a mesmerizing vision of this world and the workings of trauma, gender identity and magic within it. A spell-binding work."
--Molly Roden Winter author of More: A Memoir of Open Marriage

In Nature's Wild, Andil Gosine engages with questions of humanism, queer theory, and animality to examine and revise understandings of queer desire in the Caribbean. Surveying colonial law, visual art practices, and contemporary activism, Gosine shows how the very concept of homosexuality in the Caribbean (and in the Americas more broadly) has been overdetermined by a colonially influenced human/animal divide. Gosine refutes this presupposed binary and embraces animality through a series of case studies: a homoerotic game called puhngah, the institution of gender-based dress codes in Guyana, and efforts toward the decriminalization of sodomy in Trinidad and Tobago--including the work of famed activist Colin Robinson, paintings of human animality by Guadeloupean artist Kelly Sinnapah Mary, and Gosine's own artistic practice. In so doing, he troubles the ways in which individual and collective anxieties about "wild natures" have shaped the existence of Caribbean people while calling for a reassessment of what political liberation might look like.

Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient

In the summer of 2020, with a heat wave bearing down and a brood of periodical cicadas climbing into the trees, Husha mourns the recent death of her mother while quarantining with her ailing grandfather, Arthur, at his lakeside cabin in remote Ontario. They're soon joined by Husha's ex-lover, Nellie, who arrives without explanation to complete their trio.

Also among them is a strange book, discovered by Husha while cleaning out her mother's house. When she, Arthur, and Nellie begin to read it together, they learn that her mother's last missive was a short story collection, crawling with unsettling imagery and terrifying transformations. As the stories bleed into their cloistered life in the cabin, they must each reckon with loss, longing, and what it means to truly know another person. Incantatory and atmospheric, Cicada Summer is a dazzlingly original novel about how we grieve and care for one another.

From the author of Wild Things comes a heartwarming and relatable queer rom-com about an isolated young woman whose artistic celebration of her pet chinchilla suddenly launches her into the professional art world, reality TV fame, and first love.

Isobel's life is small: just her, her mum, and her pet chinchilla, Abigail, in their council flat on the Kentish coast. After mental health troubles in her teens, Issy, now twenty-eight, has kept things that way on purpose, only deviating from routine when her part-time job at a paint-your-own pottery studio demands it, or when she's inspired to create art of Abigail: knitted Abigails, sculptural Abigails, delicately rendered paintings of Abigail.

When the Abigails earn the attention of famous artist and reality TV star Elizabeth Staggs, Issy is awestruck and a little alarmed. These emotions compound when Elizabeth makes Issy an unexpected offer: move to London and work for a year shadowing Elizabeth as she produces her hit arts documentary series. Terrified but determined, Issy agrees, and soon finds herself sharing a flat with a crew of boisterous roommates who welcome her into their queer enclave and attempt to mentor her in the city's wide world of romantic possibilities. Issy can't help but wish that one roommate--gorgeous and cool aspiring actress, Robin--might make her mentorship a bit more hands on...even while, at work, she struggles under the guidance of Elizabeth's harsh and exacting young producer, Aubrey.

But when Elizabeth seizes on Issy's idea to structure the upcoming season around a group of outsider artists, Issy finds both her work and love lives growing more complicated by the day, whether she's ready or not. Making It is a nuanced and life affirming look at living with depression and of finding, as we all deserve to, self-acceptance, community, and love.

A revelatory and comprehensive history of the gay Right from incisive political commentator Neil J. Young.
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One of the most maligned, misunderstood, and even mocked constituencies in American politics, gay Republicans regularly face condemnation from both the LGBTQ+ community and their own political party. Yet they've been active and influential for decades. Gay conservatives were instrumental, for example, in ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and securing the legalization of same-sex marriage--but they also helped lay the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.

In Coming Out Republican, political historian and commentator Neil J. Young provides the first comprehensive history of the gay Right. From the 1950s up to the present day, Young excavates the multifarious origins, motivations, and evolutions of LGBTQ+ people who found their way to the institutions and networks of modern conservatism. Many on the gay Right have championed conservative values--like free markets, a strong national defense, and individual liberty--and believed that the Republican Party therefore offered LGBTQ+ people the best pathway to freedom. Meanwhile, that same party has actively and repeatedly demonized them. With his precise and provocative voice, Young details the complicated dynamics of being in--and yet never fully accepted into--the Republican Party.

Coming Out Republican provides striking insight into who LGBTQ+ conservatives are, what they want, and why many of them continue to align with a party whose rank and file largely seem to hate them. As the Republican Party renews its assaults on LGBTQ+ rights, understanding the significant history of the gay Right has never been more critical.

"My name is Lucille, and me and my body have broken up."

Lucille and his body are constantly at odds. Lucille is too cold and too resentful for his body, and his body is too warm and too loud for Lucille. It's time to ask God for a divorce.

A minicomic by the author of Prokaryote Season and Boy Island, My Body Unspooling explores the push and pull between body and mind, and what ties them together.

An alien invasion hits the town of Muddy Gap, but a disgruntled pie aficionado is the only one who seems to remember it...

Denver Bryant's passion for pie has sent him across Wyoming in search of the best slices. Though he dutifully posts reviews on his blog, he's never been able to recreate his brief moment of viral popularity, and its trickling income isn't enough to pay his rent next month.

Driving home from a roadside diner, Denver witnesses a UFO explode directly over his tiny town of Muddy Gap. When he questions his neighbors, it appears that Denver is the only person to have seen anything - or to care that the residents' strange behavior, as well as a shower of seashell hail, might be evidence of something extraterrestrial. Being both non-binary and autistic, he's convinced his reputation as the town eccentric is impeding his quest for answers. Frustrated, he documents the bizarre incidents on his failing pie blog, and his online popularity skyrockets. His readers want the truth, spurring him to get to the bottom of things.

The only person in town who takes him seriously is handsome bartender, Ezra. As the two investigate over pie and the possibility of romance, the alien presence does more than change the weather. People start disappearing. When Denver and Ezra make a run for it, the town refuses to let them leave. Reality is folding in on itself. It's suddenly a race against time to find the extraterrestrial source and destroy it before it consumes not only Muddy Gap but everything beyond. Denver's always been more outsider than hero, but he's determined to ensure that a world with Ezra - and with pie - still exists tomorrow.

An essential resource for young readers that details the people, events and places that have shaped queer history in North America.

In this exploration of the history of LGBTQ+ activism in North America, middle-grade readers can learn about the key people who led the fight for equality, the events that brought about change and the places where history was made. Presented in an A to Z format, with one topic per letter ("P Is for Pride"), the entries include subjects such as coming out, pride flags, Jazz Jennings and the Stonewall Inn. Young readers will be particularly interested in learning about youth activists such as Gavin Grimm, the history of the first gay-straight alliance and the ongoing issue of banned children's books in America.

Author Robin Stevenson has won numerous awards, including a Stonewall Book Award Honor. She has carefully curated the key people, places and events in queer history across North America to offer a pitch-perfect compilation of individual stories that are accessible, interesting and inspiring. Queer History A to Z is a must-have resource for young readers, and a terrific jumping-off point for discussions about history, identity and the progress made by the LGBTQ+ community. With so many fascinating biographies and cultural history lessons throughout, it also makes an excellent general social studies resource. Eye-catching art by Vivian Rosas appears on every spread, capturing many of the iconic images of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Extensive back matter includes short biographies of LGBTQ+ activists, a timeline, a glossary, resources for kids, selected author's sources and an index.

Learn about the amazing life of the former world No. 1 tennis player who fought for gender equality in sports! Billie Jean King's legacy as a tennis star, a feminist, and an LGBTQ+ trailblazer shines through in this addition to the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Series.

Billie Jean King grew up in a family of athletes. It was no surprise when she quickly began to excel at tennis. She became the top female singles player in the world and won 129 career singles titles, including Wimbledon and the US Open. Beyond being an excellent athlete, Billie Jean King used her voice to stand up for other women playing tennis who were not paid nearly as much as male players. In 1973, Billie Jean captured the world's attention when she beat Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," proving women were just as good at tennis as men. She went on to found the Women's Tennis Association, and thanks to her efforts, women athletes worldwide were finally able to be taken seriously and paid fairly.

Equal parts tender and edgy, this inventive queer romance imagines what it might feel like to come of age in the afterlife.

Tegan Masters is dead.

She's sixteen and she's dead and she's standing in the parking lot of the Marybelle Motor Lodge, the single most depressing motel in all of New Jersey and the place where Tegan spent what she remembers as the worst weekend of her life.

In the front office, she meets Zelda, a cute and sarcastic girl Tegan's age who is, in fact, an angel (wings and all). According to Zelda, Tegan is officially in heaven, where every person inhabits an exact replica of their happiest memory. For Tegan, Zelda insists, that place is the Marybelle--creepy minigolf course, revolting breakfast buffet, broken TV, and all.

Tegan has a few complaints about this.

As Zelda takes Tegan on a whirlwind tour through Tegan's past to help her understand what mattered most to her in life, the stakes couldn't be higher. If Zelda fails to convince Tegan that the Marybelle was the site of Tegan's perfect moment, both girls face eternal consequences too dire to consider. But if she succeeds...they just might get their happily-ever-afterlife.

Full of humor and heartbreak, The Worst Perfect Moment asks what it means to be truly happy.

The Roost - the world's most prestigious military academy - has never accepted a Crow into its ranks. Until now. However, the conditions surrounding Scra's acceptance are shrouded in conspiracy, and his new roommate Ky won't rest until he finds out just where he goes every night. Between flight tests, classes, and Murders, Scra, Ky and Ree must band together to uncover the truth about their utopia and the whispers of a superweapon - "The Croaking" - that are seeping from the cracks.

Volume 1 of The Croaking is a YALSA Best Book for Teens. The Croaking was nominated for the 2020 Ringo Award for Best Webcomic.

The Roost - the world's most prestigious military academy - has never accepted a Crow into its ranks. Until now. However, the conditions surrounding Scra's acceptance are shrouded in conspiracy, and his new roommate Ky won't rest until he finds out just where he goes every night. Between flight tests, classes, and Murders, Scra, Ky and Ree must band together to uncover the truth about their utopia and the whispers of a superweapon - "The Croaking" - that are seeping from the cracks.

LGBTQ+ people are under constant attack, especially by those who claim the mantle of Christ. It's not popular or easy to be a Christian and a member of this marginalized community. On the right are conservatives who claim to speak for God and try to block the path of LGBTQ+ Christians. On the left are those who have been harmed by the church and balk in the face of their continued belief. LGBTQ+ Christians are left in the middle to try to reconcile a religion that appears to demonize them and a God who loves them unconditionally. Jeza's Jesus Juice is a rare safe space for those who are committed to their faith but do not know where to go to deepen it. It is also a place for those searching for meaning in Christianity that does not negate their queer identity. This devotional provides personal stories, biblical apologetics, and damning indictments of today's evangelical movement, all served up frothy over ice by one of America's premier and unique drag talents.

Find out what it's like to go through puberty as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or asexual teen.

What do you do when Mom says, "You're a woman now!" but you know you're not a woman? Or when Dad keeps asking when you're going to bring a girlfriend home, but you're not interested in girls?

Puberty is an awkward and confusing time for anybody, but for queer youth, feelings of social and physical discomfort can be heightened. Adolescence should be a time for making social connections and exploring new ideas, but many queer youth must also wrestle with complicated identity questions, familial and social bigotry, and difficult decisions about whether to be safe or authentic.

In this accessible book, personal accounts mingle with factual information and sensitive analysis to provide a snapshot of the joys and concerns of American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual adolescents. Whether you're a parent, a clinician, a teacher, or a queer person, this book will answer many questions and offer a way forward.

Includes:

• Personal narratives and discussion about the unique challenges faced by LGBTQIA+ youth in adolescence
• Concrete action plan for parents, teachers, and clinicians to better support the queer youth in their lives
• Vital glossary of up-to-date LGBTQIA+ and puberty terms
• Highly recommended queer-inclusive sex education materials

What is it like to discover that something you've believed all your life might be wrong?

Sally Gary knew since her early adulthood that she was attracted to women. But as a devoted Christian, she felt there was no way to fully embrace this aspect of her identity while remaining faithful. Now, as she prepares to marry the love of her life, she's ready to speak out about why--and how--her perspective changed.

In this deeply personal memoir, Sally traces the experiences, conversations, and scriptural reading that culminated in her seeing her sexuality as something that made sense within the context of her faith--not outside of it or in opposition to it. Along the way, she addresses specific aspects of her journey that will resonate with many other gay Christians: the loneliness and isolation of her previously celibate life, the futile attempts she made to resist or even "change" her sexual orientation, and the fear of intimacy that followed a lifetime of believing same-sex relationships were sinful.

Sally's story--one of heritage, learning, courage, and love--is written especially for the generations of LGBTQ Christians after her who are questioning whether they can stay part of the church they call home. It's a resounding reminder that, just like Sally's own heart, things can change, and sometimes, when we earnestly search for the truth, we find it in the most unexpected places.

Samoan Queer Lives is a collection of personal stories from one of the world's unique indigenous queer cultures. The first of its kind, this book features a collection of autobiographical pieces by fa afafine, transgender, and queer people of Sāmoa, one of the original continuous indigenous queer cultures of Polynesia and the Pacific Islands.

Featuring 14 autobiographical stories from fa afafine and LGBTIQ Samoans based in Sāmoa, Amerika Sāmoa, Australia, Aotearoa NZ, Hawai i and USA. Includes a foreword and introduction by co-editors Dan Taulapapa McMullin and Yuki Kihara. Each story is accompanied by a portrait.

"I've never really tried to be either a girl or a guy. I've always been me. And I suppose being me is fa afafine. Then, all of the expression I put in my work is I. It's not colored by any gender of any kind. I've never been cautious of what is man or woman, how I see my perspective of any situation, and it was not ever politicised or in a contest where a fa afafine or a man or a woman is treated in any way."