These books, along with much that I read by queer authors today, is released by mainstream publishers. In recent years, I’ve had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a variety of books by queer authors for the Blade: from “Fairest: A Memoir” by Meredith Talusan (Viking) to “Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell” by Tim Miller (Harper) to “Afterparties: Stories” by Anthony Veasna So (Ecco). Forty-one percent of the more than 1,600 books banned during the 2021-2022 school year were challenged because of their queer content, according to a Pen America report.Īnd yet, scrolling on my iPad, I see work by two highly talented openly queer authors in a list from The New York Times of 13 new books out this month: “Quietly Hostile: Essays” by queer writer Samantha Irby” and “The Late Americans,” a novel by queer author Brandon Taylor. Some LGBTQ authors self-publish their work because they can’t get published. In some countries, and, sometimes, in the United States, queer writers, to protect themselves and/or their loved ones, have to be closeted.

Often, LGBTQ teens and kids don’t see people like themselves in books. It’s still difficult for many queer writers to get published – especially for authors who are trans or nonbinary.

Without Denneny’s courage and groundbreaking work, LGBTQ creators would find it far more difficult to flourish today.I don’t want to be a Pollyanna. If Denneny hadn’t put his heart and soul into fostering queer literature and LGBTQ authors, queer literature might well not be as vibrant as it is now.

Washington, D.C. by Gore Vidal