Task 4: Read an LGBTQ+ history book

[Rachel S]

Re my comment, I’ve found mention of a recent book, A New Ireland by Niall O’Dowd—https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/04/10... it seems to be just one part of the book’s larger coverage of the political reorienting of the country? And it hasn’t gotten too much coverage yet. So any other books on this topic would be most welcome too! It also seems like there was first the task of unearthing of the role of women in Irish revolutionary and political history in recent decades, so this front is like the next wave currently unfolding.

[Mandie]

I read this graphic novel that gives a quick history of Alan Turing - The Case of Alan Turing: The Extraordinary and Tragic Story of the Legendary Codebreaker

[Kai]

Anna wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for a book about HIV/AIDS written by an LGBTQ author?"

Definitely try And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic. Really interesting book written by an LGBTQ author too.

[Judith]

I just read Love in a Dark Time: and Other Explorations of Gay Lives and Literature by Colm Toibin, which has been on Mount TBR for a while. Some chapters better than others - some were really rather too short.

@RachelS - Toibin is Irish, so there is a bit about Irish history but I don't think it's really what you are looking for. Short chapter on Casement and then a chapter on Ireland and the Church in the 20th century at the end.

[Navya]

I read The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination for this prompt, which connected queer history (around the AIDS crisis) with gentrification of cities as well as thought. A fascinating read!

[Gw]

I chose a BLACK LIKE US: A CENTURY OF LESBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL FICTION. This was on BR’s website in this category. I can’t see what it has to do with anti-racism. Guess I’ll find out when I read it.

[Diane]

Has anyone read Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World? I think I might choose this one for the challenge.

[Elizabeth]

Diane wrote: "Has anyone read Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World? I think I might choose this one for the challenge."

I have! Some of it is speculating on whether a few well-known figures were queer, but most of the book covers slightly lesser-known folks who were obviously LGBTQ+ (even if they didn't use the language we use today). I thought that overall it was a really interesting and fun book.

[Zyn]

I am currently listening How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS by gay author/journalist David France while waiting for my paperback copy of A Queer History of the United States to show up in the mail. :-D

[Erika]

I keep changing which book I'm gonna read for this prompt, but I think I finally settled on David Bowie Made Me Gay: 100 Years of LGBT Music by Darryl W. Bullock

[Brittany]

I was really having a hard time with this prompt, just because I'm not a huge history person. I finally found Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York, which seems like it will fit the prompt and hold my interest.

[Sandra]

I'm about a third of the way through Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy for this one - Fitzhugh was a lesbian in New York in the 50s and onward, and there's enough of the "and times" that I think it qualifies.

[Blake]

I am on page 400 out of 600 in “And The Band Played On.” It’s taking me awhile, but i am really enjoying it. Shilts is a very talented writer.

[Lisa]

Try the book Sweet Gum, by Leonard Meek. Based in the Deep South during the time of slavery.

[MaryAnn (EmilyD1037)]

Nupur wrote: "And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic would be a good book for this task. This Day in June is a really cute picture book that also fits the task."

Wonderful book !! The movie was also good !
It is a chunkster but it moves right along most of the time.

[MaryAnn (EmilyD1037)]

Bobby wrote: "Anna wrote: "Does anyone have recommendations for a book about HIV/AIDS written by an LGBTQ author?"

I haven’t read it, but [book:And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic|28..."

Borrowed Time by Paul Monette is another good one.

[Laura]

I read Closet Queens by Michael Bloch, about queer prime ministers in the UK. Such a great premise, but actually a pretty homophobic book, argh.

[Amy]

I read "Transgender History" by Susan Stryker.

It was extremely informative, but is written like a textbook, so it was a bit of a chore to get through.

One thing I learned that surprised me was that in the 1970's some radical feminists and some lesbians were anti-transgender rights. Here's a quote I found:

Robin Morgan: "I will not call a male 'she'; thirty-two years of suffering in this androcentric society, and of surviving, have earned me the title 'woman'; one walk down the street by a male transvestite, five minutes of his being hassled (which he may enjoy), and then he dares, he dares to think he understands our pain? No, in our mothers’ names and in our own, we must not call him sister."

She didn't get it at ALL.

Considering how we now fight for rights for all LGBTQ people, I was very shocked to learn that it hasn't always been that way... that there was fighting amongst different LGBTQ people, which is very sad.

A lot of things have improved for transgender people in the last 100 years. I am very happy to see how much things have changed, since my son is transgender. But of course, there is a long way to go. So many transgender people commit suicide or are murdered....

And I'm very glad for this "assignment", so I could learn more. Thanks!

[Ayumi]

I've read Lost On Planet Earth (comiXology Originals) #1

[Whitney]

Currently reading The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman.

[Sherri]

I’m having a terrible time with this prompt I want to stay as true as possible to the prompt. I’m leaning towards historical fiction but not finding ok true to the prompt. I’m reading Shuggie Bain because it’s listed as historical fiction & LGBTQ+on Goodreads. It doesn’t fit the prompt so so I’m looking for another book. I also saw where someone asked if My Autobiography of Carson McCullers by Jenn Shapland would work for this prompt? I want to read this book. Suggestions are welcomed.

[Karen]

I saw the Pulitzer prize announcements yesterday and a finalist for History fits this task - I know it has been mentioned before - The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America by Eric Cervini.

[Tammy]

Inspired by the TV show Pose, I tried to see if there are books about the history of the racial minority ballroom community in 1980s NYC. Christ Like by Emanuel Xavier is autobiographical fiction that might work. Also there is someone names Sydney Baloue working on a book. Does anyone know of anything that has more info on this topic?

[Sherri]

I had a terrible time also with this prompt. I waited for a historical fiction book to drop into my lap. It didn't. I read The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America by Eric Cervini. 4 stars. Very insightful into the fight for gay rights. I feel like I met the spirit of the prompt. It was dry & tedious. I felt like I was stuck in the mid to late 1950's then the early 1960's for most of the book. I gave it 4 stars for writing & research.

[Gia]

I've had Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation on my shelves for a while, so I'm planning on reading it for this challenge. It's a part of my hometown's history that I'd never heard about until I saw the book in an exhibit in the New Orleans Museum of Art.

[Debbie]

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

[Octavia]

I read Stonewall by Martin Duberman for this, and learned a lot. I expected from the title that the Stonewall riots would be the main topic of the book but they really weren't - it was more a history of LGBTQ+ organisations in 1960s US than anything else.

[Jenny]

I read Passions Between Women by Emma Donaghue for this and I can highly recommend it! It's about how sapphic women were written about during the 'Long Eightenth Century' in Britain