June is unofficially recognized as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month in order to honor the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion in New York City on June 28, 1969. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. Police raids on bars catering to LGBT patrons were common then, but on that night, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back. Find out more about the history of Pride Month here:
In addition to being Pride Month, June is also GLBT Book Month™. GLBT Book Month™ is an initiative of the American Library Association and is an annual celebration of the authors and writings that reflect the lives and experiences of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community. Find out more here:
- "GLBT Book Month" by the Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services at the American Library Association
Celebrate both with us by checking out any of the titles currently on display near the cafe area on the library's main floor, or any of those listed below.
Blue Is the Warmest Color by
Julie Maroh
Call Number: 741.594 M354b 2013 - Graphic Novels
Blue is the Warmest Color is a tender, bittersweet, full-colour graphic novel about the elusive, reckless magic of love: a lesbian love story for the ages that bristles with the energy of youth, rebellion and the eternal light of desire. Clementine is a junior in high school who seems 'normal' enough: she has friends, family and even a boyfriend. When her openly gay best friend takes her to a gay bar, she becomes captivated by Emma, a punkish, confident girl with blue hair, an event that leads Clementine to discover new aspects of herself.
Fat Gay Men by
Jason Whitesel
Call Number: 306.766 W594f 2014 - Circulating
To be fat in a thin-obsessed gay culturecan be difficult. Despite affectionate in-group monikers for big gay men-chubs,bears, cubs-the anti-fat stigma that persists in American culture at large still haunts these individuals who often exist at the margins of gay communities. Whitesel delves into the world of Girth & Mirth, a nationally known social club dedicated to big gay men, illuminating the ways in which these men form identities and community in the face of adversity.
Olivia by
Dorothy Strachey; Regina Marler (Foreword by)
Call Number: B981oL 2006 - Fiction
Dorothy Strachey's classic Olivia captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress, Mlle. Julie, and through this screen of love observes the tense romance between Mlle. Julie and the other head of the school, Mlle.
Living Out Islam by Scott Siraj al-Haqq Kugle
Call Number: Ebook
Living Out Islam documents the rarely-heard voices of Muslims who live in secular democratic countries and who are gay, lesbian, and transgender. It weaves original interviews with Muslim activists into a compelling composite picture which showcases the importance of the solidarity of support groups in the effort to change social relationships and achieve justice. This nascent movement is not about being "out" as opposed to being "in the closet." Rather, as the voices of these activists demonstrate, it is about finding ways to live out Islam with dignity and integrity, reconciling their sexuality and gender with their faith and reclaiming Islam as their own.
Finding H. F. by
Julia Watts
Call Number: W351f - Fiction
Sixteen-year-old Heavenly Faith Simms is slowly suffocating in the small town in which she grew up. Abandoned by her mother and raised by her loving but religiously zealous grandmother, HF has never felt like she belonged anywhere, especially when she falls in love with the smart, beautiful daughter of a college professor.
Heather Has Two Mommies by
Lesléa Newman; Diana Souza (Illustrator)
Call Number: EN553h 1989 - Children's
A child who has 2 lesbians as mothers realizes that her family does not include a daddy.
Men on Men 5 by
David Bergman (Editor)
Call Number: 823.008 M534 1994 - Circulating
Best New Gay Fiction This dazzling collection of new gay fiction brings together established writers and bright new voices from all over the US. Robert Rodi, Michael Lowenthal, Jaime Manrique, Gary Glickman, Jameson Currier, and 15 others explore such themes as self-representation and love, family and fantasy, and simple survival in the time of AIDS. Exceptional works that clearly illustrate that gay writers are creating some of the best and most provocative fiction being published today.
Black Like Us by
Devon W. Carbado (Editor); Dwight A. McBride (Editor); Donald Weise (Editor); Evelyn C. White (Foreword by)
Call Number: 823.91 B6265 - Circulating
Black Like Us chronicles 100 years of the African American lesbian, gay, and bisexual literary tradition. Beginning with the turn-of-the-century writings of Angelina Welde Grimke and Alice Dunbar Nelson, it charts the evolution of black lesbian and gay fiction into the Harlem Renaissance of Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen and the later postwar era, in which works by Audre Lorde and James Baldwin signal the emerging sexual liberation movements.
The Line of Beauty by
Alan Hollinghurst
Call Number: H7405L 2004 - Fiction
In the summer of 1983, twenty-year-old Nick Guest moves into an attic room in the Notting Hill home of the Feddens: conservative Member of Parliament Gerald, his wealthy wife Rachel, and their two children. As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick, an innocent in the world of politics and money, finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family. His two vividly contrasting love affairs, one with a young black clerk and one with a Lebanese millionaire, dramatize the dangers and rewards of his own private pursuit of beauty, a pursuit as compelling to Nick as the desire for power and riches among his friends.
Sticky Kisses by
Greg Johnson
Call Number: J669s - Fiction
An unexpected phone call from her estranged brother, Thom, wrenches Abby Sandler away from her staid life as a teacher in Philadelphia and unofficial companion to their widowed mother and sends her back to Atlanta where they both grew up and Thom still lives. She finds Thom, newly diagnosed as HIV-positive, grappling with the loss of his lover and is, herself, plunged into a passionate love affair. A compelling and poignant look at family life.
Stone Butch Blues by
Leslie Feinberg
Call Number: F299s - Fiction
Jess, a working-class woman living as a man, survives a period of homelessness, tries to unionize fellow workers, worries about being found out, and searches for community while undergoing a secret transsexual operation.
Trash by
Dorothy Allison
Call Number: A4388tr 2002 - Fiction
First published in 1988, the award-winning Trash showcases Allison at her most fearlessly honest and startlingly vivid. The limitless scope of human emotion and experience are depicted in stories that give aching and eloquent voice to the terrible wounds we inflict on those closest to us. These are tales of loss and redemption; of shame and forgiveness; of love and abuse and the healing power of storytelling.
