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Writer's pictureForrest E.

Gaye Magazine's Top 40 LGBT Books You Should Be Reading for National Book Month

Updated: Oct 30, 2020

National Book Month is held each October. In celebration of this month-long celebration, we at Gaye Magazine want you to explore and support queer Black authors such as E. Patrick Johnson, Akwaeke Emezi, Roxane Gay, James Baldwin, and many others. Be sure to let us know your thoughts after you read them.


Check out these LGBTQ+ and Queer People of Color Suggestions!


40. Pet by Akwaek Emezi

Read Book Summary & Purchase Here


39. Kings, Queens, and In-betweens by Tanya Boteju


Read Book Summary & Purchase Here



38. Trap Door: Trans Cultural Production and the Politics of Visibility by Tourmaline



37. Trans: Gender and Race in an Age of Unsettled Identities by Rogers Brubaker



36. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & so Much More by Janet Mock






35. Modern HERstory : Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History by Blair Imani





34. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver




33. Reclaiming Afrikan: Queer Perspectives on Sexual and Gender Identities by Zethu Matebeni




32. Evidence of Being: the Black Gay Cultural Renaissance and the Politics of Violence by Darius Bost



31. The Other Side of Paradise: A Memoir by Stacyann Chin



30. A Garden for Black Boys: Between the Stages of Soil and Stardust by W. J. Lofton





29. Invisible Families: gay identities, relationships, and motherhood among Black women by Mignon R. Moore






28. Semi Queer: Inside the World of Gay, Trans, and Black Truck Driversby Anne Balay




27. TQ Review: A Journal of Trans & Queer Voices by Damaged Good Press


26. Queer Returns: Essays on Multiculturalism, Diaspora, and Black Studies by Rinaldo Walcott






25. Black Queer Identity Matrix: Towards an Integrated Queer of Color Framework by Sheena C. Howard Sheena C.





24. Blacktino Queer Performance by E. Patrick Harrison






23. Looking for Leroy : illegible black masculinities by Mark Anthony Neal





22. Basketball Jones by E. Lynn Harris






21. Honeypot: Black Southern Women who Love Women by E. Patrick Johnson



20. HoodWitch: Poems by Faylita Hicks





19. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay





18. Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South by E. Patrick Johnson





17. No Tea, No Shade: New Writings in Black Queer Studies by E. Patrick Johnson





16. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde





15. Invisible Life by E. Lynn Harris



14. Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity by C. Riley Snorton




13. Erotic Islands: Art and Activism in the Queer Caribbean by Kamaal Lyndon Gill





12. Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation by Lourdes Dolores Follins




11. Sexual Discretion: Black Masculinity and the Politics of Passing by Jeffrey Q. McCune, Jr.



10. "--and then I became gay": young men's stories by Ritch C. Savin-Williams





9. A Whosoever Church: Welcoming Lesbians and Gay Men into African American Congregations by Comstock, Gary David




8. I Don't Wanna Live Forever, But I Don't Wanna Die by Patrick Rebel



7. Dear Dreamer by Quentin Harris




6. Love makes a Family: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents and Their Families by Gigi Kaeser






5. What You Don't Know is Hurting You by Marion E. Brooks




4. Love Under Fault Lines by Marcus J. King


3. Afrekete: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Writing by Catherine E. McKinley



2. Tommy Boys, Lesbian Men and Ancestral Wives: Female Same-sex Practices in Africa by Ruth Zilla Morgan




1. Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies: Performance, Race, and Sexuality in the Harlem Renaissance by James F. Wilson





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