F Yeah, Queer Teen Lit

In Her Skin, by Trina Sotira

diversifying your queer reads, part 2: a list of books published in 2012 featuring trans people

queerbookclub:

Here’s the second of two lists aimed at promoting more diverse queer lit - the first, of 2012 qpoc books, is here. It should be said that there’s no way this list is exhaustive, or even close. If I was unsure about a book’s contents (that is, if I was unsure if the trans content/characters were prominent, or if I thought the book might be exploitative), I tended to give weight to who the author is (that is, I was more likely to include books I know were written by trans people). Of course, I’ll be happy to add books to the list if you have any suggestions that fit the theme! Here’s what I found, arranged by genre:

poetry
Seasonal Velocities: poems, stories and essays by Ryka Aoki
Dialectic of the Flesh by Roz Kaveney

nonfiction/memoir
A Queer and Pleasant Danger: The True Story of a Nice Jewish Boy Who Joins the Church of Scientology and Leaves Twelve Years Later to Become the Lovely Lady She is Today by Kate Bornstein
Real Man Adventures by T Cooper
Bumbling Into Body Hair by Everett Maroon
Transition: Becoming Who I Was Always Meant to Be by Chaz Bono
Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form by Anna Anthropy
Cooking In Heels: A Memoir Cookbook by Ceyenne Doroshow
Transposes by Dylan Edwards
No Straight Lines: Four Decades of Queer Comics edited by Justin Hall
Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots?: Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
Transitions of the Heart: Stories of Love, Struggle and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children edited by Rachel Pepper
Against Equality: Prisons Will Not Protect You edited by Ryan Conrad

fiction
Heidegger Stairwell by Kayt Burgess
Roving Pack by Sassafras Lowrey
First Spring Grass Fire by Rae Spoon
The Collection: Short Fiction from the Transgender Vanguard edited by Tom Léger and Riley MacLeod

science fiction & fantasy
The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan
The Spark by Susan Jane Bigelow
Beyond Binary: Genderqueer and Sexually Fluid Speculative Fiction edited by Brit Mandelo

young adult
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills
Being Emily by Rachel Gold
One in Every Crowd by Ivan E. Coyote
Happy Families by Tanita S. Davis

children’s/picture books
When Leonard Lost His Spots: A Trans Parent Tale by Monique Costa and Marina Shupik
The Adventures of Tulip, Birthday Wish Fairy by S. Bear Bergman and Suzy Malik
Backward Day by S. Bear Bergman and KD Diamond

Many thanks to Giovanni’s Room, Malinda Lo, the GLBTRT of the ALA, this trans women in fiction wiki and many goodreads users for providing the resources that made compiling this list feasible!

OMGQueer: Short Stories by Queer Youth, edited by Radclyffe & Katherine E. Lynch, PHD

Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children, by Kirsten Cronn-Mills

Being Emily, by Rachel Gold

Nightsiders, by Sue Isle

MBLGTACC 2012

This may be of interest to you.

Registration has opened for the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference 2012.

It is going to be held by Iowa State University, in Ames, Iowa, from February 10-12, 2012.

I went to MBLGTACC 2010 and 2011. It was an amazing experience for me… imagine being surrounded by a few thousand queers, learning more in a weekend than you may have thought possible, and meeting a ton of new people who are there for the same reasons you are.

The event is aimed at the college demographic (people who are 17-22ish), but anyone can go. MBLGTACC is what we make it, so if you are interested in seeing a workshop on, say, writing queer characters in today’s publishing world, you may want to consider leading one, or asking someone with that experience to.

For those interested in going:

• Registration costs $60 until January 3. It then costs $70 until February 7.
• Rooms in the hotels around the area costs between $60-120/night. I suggest rooming with multiple people.
• If you can’t afford a room alone, I suggest connecting to others who are going (via the MBLGTACC2012 facebook page, their twitter account, or their tumblr page) and seeing if anyone is interested in sharing.
• For those who don’t have transportation - I plan on roadtripping it with some friends. I’d suggest posting on any of MBLGTACC2012’s social media pages and seeing if anyone else is roadtripping and would be willing to split gas costs.

For educators and those who are willing to share their knowledge:

• Workshop proposals are due Friday, December 16.
• Workshops can be on any topic - I’ve seen ones covering intersectionalities, being queer and religious, religion, coming out, BDSM, bisexuality, creating college-wide coalitions, getting involved, being in a relationship with a transgender person, masculinity and homophobia, safe sex, polyamory, etc…

Anyways. MBLGTACC 2010 and 2011 were fantastic experiences for me; maybe they’d be the same for you.

Back to reading!

[Black image with purple text:

Happy National Coming Out Day.

Remember…

Regardless of who you are,

You are not alone.

You are loved.]

Happy national coming out day, everyone. :)

If you want to know who I am, here’s my personal tumblr. I might post my coming out story there.

(via painterofathousandskies)