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Sheila Rae of Austin, Texas, told us why queer stories have been so important for her. And the immediate follow-up: I’m gay and I’m scared.įor many exploring their sexuality and gender identity, writing can be the outlet they need to express themselves. If I could tell someone, anyone, without fear of repercussion, then I’d have found relief. Whenever I sliced at my skin, or when I pulled the hair from my head in order to feel something other than the self-loathing of my secret burden, I needed that frustratingly inaccessible language. More than a dozen states have introduced similar bills.Īuthor Kristen Arnett knows the personal toll these kinds of bans take as a gay teenager who grew up in Florida. Some that of that legislation includes the so-called ‘ Don’t Say Gay’ bill that passed in Florida this March. That law bansthe discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, including books that touch on those topics. More than 30 states have introduced anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year.
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The late writer bell hooks defined queer as “not about who you’re having sex with … but as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it.”Īs LGBTQ+ rights have expanded, so too has the canon of queer literature. According to industry tracker NPD Bookscan, LGBTQ+ fiction book sales sold almost 5 million copies last year, doubling sales between 20.īut, access to these stories is in jeopardy.