Reading list: Pride edition
Image: Kiyana Salkeld / Just Good Shit
In honor of Pride Month, I put together this list of the best and most memorable content about the many shades of LGBTQ2IA identity, lived experience, and history that I’ve read over the past several years. It’s a mix (in no particular order!) of moving, funny, sweet, sad, infuriating, and informative content, and is meant for both queer folks and allies.
First person/essays
“You Girls Having Fun?”, Eater.
A Modest Proposal, David Sedaris for The New Yorker.
Planning For A Future We Can Actually Imagine, BuzzFeed.
The Catastrophist, or: On coming out as trans at 37, Vox.
My Wife and I Are (Both) Pregnant + A Year Ago I Had a Baby. So Did My Wife., New York Magazine.
Introducing My Parents To My Boyfriend Meant Introducing Them To Me, BuzzFeed.
I Fell In Love With The First Girl I Dated After Coming Out, BuzzFeed.
Harry Potter and the Secret Gay Love Story, The Paris Review.
The best $6,250 I ever spent: top surgery, Vox.
No, We Won’t Sandwich the Bride: On Handling Gay Tokenism, The Toast.
My Queer Skincare Secrets, Gay Magazine.
Being Queer Means I’ll Never Stop Coming Out, BuzzFeed.
I Got Kicked Out Of A YMCA Locker Room — Twice — Because I’m Trans, BuzzFeed.
I Thought My Immigrant Mother Would Never Accept My Queerness. I Was Wrong., Bitch.
Falling in Love with My Transgender Husband, Marie Claire.
I Dress ‘Straight’ to Protect My Clients, Racked.
How I Divorced My Husband of 5 Years, Came Out at 28, and Married a Woman, A Practical Wedding.
This Is What It’s Like When Your Dad Comes Out To You, BuzzFeed.
When I couldn’t tell the world I wanted to transition, I went to Dressbarn, Vox.
Now We Have Seen The Epitome of Anti-Gay Hatred, Gawker.
Please Don’t Stop the Music, The Nation.
Only When I’m Dancing Can I Feel This Free, MTV.
After Transitioning, No One Calls Me Fat Anymore, BuzzFeed.
Could The Baby-Sitters Club Have Been More Gay?, The Paris Review.
A Love Letter To All My Gay Firsts, BuzzFeed.
‘Mallory Is Not Gone’: Daniel Mallory Ortberg on Coming Out As Trans, The Cut.
How I Learned the Craft of Going on Dates with Girls, Catapult.
How to Draw a Horse, The New Yorker.
Advice & service
‘My Parents Still Won’t Accept That I’m Gay!’, The Cut.
Ask Polly: Why Do People Always Think I'm Gay?, The Awl.
#1194: “I’m moving in with my girlfriend and now my homophobic parents want to disown me.”, Captain Awkward.
Coming Out As Gay In Elementary School, BuzzFeed.
I Don’t Know What My ‘Label’ Is. Can I Be in the LGBTQ+ Community?, Out.
19 Insanely Useful Makeup Tips For Trans Women, BuzzFeed.
Incomplete list of books by black trans women, Queer Book Club.
55 Things That Helped LGBT People When They Were Coming Out, BuzzFeed.
Navigating LGBTQ issues at work: an open thread, Ask a Manager.
100 Easy Ways to Make the World Better for Trans People, Vice.
#453: Guest Post: How Do I Come Out to My Mom?, Captain Awkward.
#978: “If you were a ten-year-old boy who just told your mom you’re gay, what would you want her to say?”, Captain Awkward.
The BuzzFeed Style Guide LGBT section.
Gender: Your Guide: A Gender-Friendly Primer on What to Know, What to Say, and What to Do in the New Gender Culture by Lee Airton.
News, culture, and history
The Woman Who Cared for Hundreds of Abandoned Gay Men Dying of AIDS, Out.
When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History by Hugh Ryan (available from Amazon and through local bookstores via IndieBound).
How an Ad Campaign Made Lesbians Fall in Love with Subaru, Priceonomics.
The Bittersweet Beauty of Adam Rippon, Vanity Fair.
No, Queer Women Aren't "Just Experimenting", BuzzFeed.
The Complicated Appeal Of Celesbian Gossip, BuzzFeed.
Who’s Afraid of Gender-Neutral Bathrooms?, The New Yorker.
Queer Eye’s “Black Girl Magic” Is the Blackest, Gayest, Most Moving TV Episode of 2019, Autostraddle.
Carly Rae Jepsen's 'Boy Problems' Is a Beautiful Gay Song of Discovery, Jezebel.
“This Is Us” Breaks New Ground With Tess Pearson’s Coming Out Storyline, Autostraddle.
Beyond The Favourite: The Royal Family's Very Queer History, Town & Country.
How—and Why—Did Fruitcake Become a Slur?, Food52.
Last Call by Elon Green.
Podcast episodes
Return to Ring of Keys, Nancy.
Bi Bi Bi, Call Your Girlfriend.
The Stonewall Uprising, You’re Wrong About.
Kitty Genovese and “Bystander Apathy”, You’re Wrong About.
Fun shit
16 Vintage “Gay” Advertisements That Are Funny Now That “Gay” Means “GAY”, Autostraddle.
An Important Look At Gal Pals Throughout History, BuzzFeed.
21 Pure Tumblr Posts About How Beautiful Women Are, BuzzFeed.
The Internet Has Made The Babadook Our New Queer Icon And Just, Yes, BuzzFeed.
34 Times Tumblr Taught You Everything You Need To Know About Bisexuality, BuzzFeed.
Space Is Gay And I Will Prove It With Science, BuzzFeed.
Baby-Sitters Club Creator Ann M. Martin is Queer, How Did I Not Know This, Autostraddle.
American Girl Dolls Ranked In Order of Gayness, The Niche.
Everyone Wants Rachel Weisz to Dominate Them, The Cut.
Happy reading! 🌈