Gender & Sexuality Diversity (GSD)

Survival Is a Promise

A Time Must-Read Book of the Year A Publishers Weekly Top Ten Book of the Year A bold, innovative biography that offers a new understanding of the life, work, and enduring impact of Audre Lorde. We remember Audre Lorde as an iconic writer, a quotable teacher whose words and face grace T-shirts, nonprofit annual reports, and campus diversity-center walls. But even those who are inspired by Lorde's teachings on "the creative power of difference" may be missing something fundamental about her life and work, and what they can mean for us today. Lorde's understanding of survival was not simply about getting through to the other side of oppression or being resilient in the face of cancer. It was about the total stakes of what it means to be in relationship with a planet in transformation. Possibly the focus on Lorde's quotable essays, to the neglect of her complex poems, has led us to ignore her deep engagement with the natural world, the planetary dynamics of geology, meteorology, and biology. For her, ecological images are not simply metaphors but rather literal guides to how to be of earth on earth, and how to survive--to live the ethics that a Black feminist lesbian warrior poetics demands. In Survival Is a Promise, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, the first researcher to explore the full depths of Lorde's manuscript archives, illuminates the eternal life of Lorde. Her life and work become more than a sound bite; they become a cosmic force, teaching us the grand contingency of life together on earth.

Young Queer America

Get to know real queer kids from all over the country--these inspiring stories of LGBTQ+ youth, written in their own words, provide crucial snapshots of what it's really like to grow up trans or queer in America. Photographer and activist Maxwell Poth has traveled all over the United States, inviting LGBTQ+ youth to share their stories as part of Project Contrast, a nonprofit that amplifies these voices and connects kids and families with the resources they need to survive and thrive. This book collects the stories and portraits of seventy-three queer kids and teenagers from fifteen different states. In their own words, these young people share the challenges they've faced coming out or coming to terms with their own identities; they write about their families, their schoolmates, their teachers, and the queer community they've found throughout their journeys; and they offer messages of love and support to their LGBTQ+ peers. Featuring a foreword by trans actress and model Isis King, this book sends a powerful message to the many LGBTQ+ kids growing up in small towns who feel isolated: We see you, we love you, you are not alone. THESE STORIES ARE VITAL: Across the United States, a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is targeting queer and transgender youth. These stories will not only help queer and trans kids everywhere feel seen and connected to one another, they will shine a much-needed light on the challenges and realities of growing up queer in America. From stories of kids surviving on their own after coming out to close-minded families, to examples of supportive parents who encourage their kids to be proud of who they are, these narratives demonstrate that growing up queer or trans in America is difficult and complicated and normal. This book is a powerful reminder that no matter what your path looks like, you deserve love. IN THEIR OWN WORDS: In this groundbreaking book, LGBTQ+ kids and teens tell their stories in their own words. The submissions that Poth and his Project Contrast team have collected are honest, articulate, and uplifting--these kids deserve to be taken seriously, and this project has given them a platform to share their truth with the world. A PASSIONATE ADVOCATE: Author and photographer Maxwell Poth has been working with LGBTQ+ kids all over the United States since 2017. He started his nonprofit, Project Contrast, to amplify the stories of queer youth and connect them with the community and resources they need to thrive, no matter where they are in the country. His work highlights the unique mental health challenges facing queer and trans young adults, and demands that we stop turning a blind eye to the harm that is caused when we single out those who are different instead of embracing and uplifting them. Perfect for: Queer and trans kids and teens who want to see their experiences reflected in print Parents and family members of LGBTQ+ youth who want to show support or learn more about their loved one's experiences Allies who are inspired by the book's mission and content Anyone interested in understanding the next generation of queer Americans

Sometimes You Have to Lie

In this inspiring biography, discover the true story of Harriet the Spy author Louise Fitzhugh -- and learn about the woman behind one of literature's most beloved heroines.   Harriet the Spy, first published in 1964, has mesmerized generations of readers and launched a million diarists. Its beloved antiheroine, Harriet, is erratic, unsentimental, and endearing -- very much like the woman who created her, Louise Fitzhugh.     Born in 1928, Fitzhugh was raised in segregated Memphis, but she soon escaped her cloistered world and headed for New York, where her expanded milieu stretched from the lesbian bars of Greenwich Village to the art world of postwar Europe, and her circle of friends included members of the avant-garde like Maurice Sendak and Lorraine Hansberry. Fitzhugh's novels, written in an era of political defiance, are full of resistance: to authority, to conformity, and even -- radically, for a children's author -- to make-believe.     As a children's author and a lesbian, Fitzhugh was often pressured to disguise her true nature. Sometimes You Have to Lie tells the story of her hidden life and of the creation of her masterpiece, which remains long after her death as a testament to the complicated relationship between truth, secrecy, and individualism.

Trans Kids

Trans Kids is a trenchant ethnographic and interview-based study of the first generation of families affirming and facilitating gender nonconformity in children. Earlier generations of parents sent such children for psychiatric treatment aimed at a cure, but today, many parents agree to call their children new names, allow them to wear whatever clothing they choose, and approach the state to alter the gender designation on their passports and birth certificates. Drawing from sociology, philosophy, psychology, and sexuality studies, sociologist Tey Meadow depicts the intricate social processes that shape gender acquisition. Where once atypical gender expression was considered a failure of gender, now it is a form of gender. Engaging and rigorously argued, Trans Kids underscores the centrality of ever more particular configurations of gender in both our physical and psychological lives, and the increasing embeddedness of personal identities in social institutions.

How Queer!

The Velvet Rage

In this moving guide, a gay man shares his personal journey of letting go of shame and moving forward with self-compassion and healing. Even though an entire generation of men have openly and freely come out of the closet, gay men still struggle with self-acceptance. Sexually transmitted diseases, depression, and suicide occur more frequently for gay men than straight men. It doesn't have to be this way. Through brave individual stories and compassionate analysis, The Velvet Rage explores how shame is insidious, and can be traced back to childhood feelings of "otherness". Drawing on contemporary psychological research, Alan Downs offers a path to emotional well-being and an end to self-defeating behavior. Velvet Rage is an empowering book you'll wish you read long ago. It's not too late to begin the healing process.