Coming Out
October 11, 2023: National Coming Out Day
PAGEBOY: A MEMOIR
Full of intimate stories, from chasing down secret love affairs to battling body image and struggling with familial strife, Pageboy is a love letter to the power of being seen. With this evocative and lyrical debut, Oscar-nominated star Elliot Page captures the universal human experience of searching for ourselves and our place in this complicated world.
GENDEREUPHORIA
Ed. Laura Kate Dale
In this ground-breaking anthology, nineteen trans, nonbinary, agender, gender-fluid and intersex writers share their experiences of gender euphoria What they have in common are their feelings of elation, pride, confidence, freedom and ecstasy as a direct result of coming out as non-cisgender, and how coming to terms with their gender has brought unimaginable joy into their lives.
MARRIAGE OF A THOUSAND LIES
Both Lucky and her husband are secretly gay for the sake of their conservative Sri Lankan-American families while each dates on the side When Lucky returns home to help take care of her grandmother, she reconnects with her first love, Nisha who plans to enter an arranged marriage. Lucky tries to save Nisha from this but does Nisha want to be saved? And what does Lucky want?
HIJABBUTCH BLUES
A queer hijabi Muslim immigrant survives her coming-of-age by drawing strength and hope from stories in the Quran in this daring, provocative, and radically hopeful memoir.
Elliot Page
Lamya H
ADULT
SJ Sindu
THE FAMILY OUTING: A MEMOIR
Growing up, Jessi and her two siblings struggled to make sense of their family, their world, their changing bodies, and the emotional turmoil each was experiencing And each, in their own way, was hiding their true self from the world. By the time Jessi reached adulthood, everyone in her family had come out. Yet coming out was just the beginning, starting a chain reaction of other personal revelations and reckonings that caused each of them to question their place in the world in new and ultimately liberating ways.
HORSE BARBIE
Geena found her place in trans pageants, becoming the Phillipines’ highest earning trans pageant queen by seventeen When her competitors mocked her as a "horse Barbie" due to her physique, hair, long neck, and dark skin, she leaned into the it. After moving to the U S , she hid her trans identity to stay safe and to become a model But she craved acceptance as her authentic self yet had to remain vigilant in order to protect her dream career The high-stakes double life finally forced Geena to decide herself if she wanted to reclaim the power of Horse Barbie once and for all.
OUT! : A PARENT'S GUIDE TO SUPPORTING YOUR LGBTQIA+ KID...
John Sovec
Coming out is one of the trickiest moments for families and this essential coming out parenting guide is here to help With loads of helpful information about a wide range of orientations, cultures, effective communication strategies and stories from families who have been there throughout, this guide is your go-to for you and your family.
Geena Rocero
ADULT
Jessi Hempel
SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA
Sixteen-year-old, not-so-openly-gay Simon Spier is blackmailed into playing wingman for his classmate or else his sexual identity--and that of his pen pal--will be revealed.
JULIET TAKES A BREATH
Juliet, a self-identified queer, Bronx-born Puerto Rican-American, comes out to her family to disastrous results the night before flying to Portland to intern with her feminist author icon--whom Juliet soon realizes has a problematic definition of feminism that excludes women of color.
THE HENNA WARS
Nishat doesn't want to lose her family, but she also doesn't want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for her instantly. But when a school competition invites students to create their own businesses, both Flávia and Nishat decide to showcase their talent as henna artists.
LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB
Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone. With deportation looming over her father, Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day
OUT! HOW TO BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF
Now a queer and trans activist, Miles McKenna came out on his YouTube channel in 2015, then transitioned online in 2017. His aim was to help other teens navigate their identities and take charge of their own coming out stories. He offers coming-out conversation starters, resources, pointers for being a queer ally, and his own "Ten Commandments" for life
THE LESBIANA’S GUIDE TO CATHOLIC SCHOOL
Sixteen-year-old Mexican American Yami Flores starts Catholic school, determined to keep her brother out of trouble and keep herself closeted, but her priorities shift when Yami discovers that her openly gay classmate Bo is also annoyingly cute.
Gabby Rivera
Adiba Jaigirdar
Malinda Lo
Becky Albertalli
Sonora Reyes
Miles McKenna
En Español aqui
TEEN
Graphic novel adaptation here
Trung Le Nguyen
Real life isn't a fairytale. But Tién still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tién, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?
I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST
Mason Deaver
When Ben comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they're kicked out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas Struggling with an anxiety disorder, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist and try to keep a low profile in a new school. But Ben's attempts to survive unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing
IT GETS BETTER
Ed. Dan Savage & Terry Miller
A collection of original essays and expanded testimonials written to teens from celebrities, political leaders, and everyday people. While many of these teens can't see a positive future for themselves, we can We can show LGBT youth the kind of happiness, potential, and satisfaction their lives hold if they can just get through these early years
THE COMEDIENNE'S GUIDE TO PRIDE
Hayli Thomson
Taylor Parker has always been a funny girl--but when she is accepted as a finalist for a diverse writers' internship at Saturday Night Live, it turns her life upside down If she wants a shot at winning in a little more than a month, Taylor will have to come out about both of her secrets: She wants to be a comedian and she's a lesbian
GENDER QUEER
Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, writes an intensely cathartic autobiography that charts eir journey of self-identity Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be non-binary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identitywhat it means and how to think about it.
THE MAGIC FISH
Maia Kobabe
TEEN
PINK, BLUE, AND YOU! : QUESTIONS FOR KIDS ABOUT GENDER STEREOTYPES
An easy-to-grasp picture book, exploring questions relating to gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexism.
CALVIN
JR Ford & Vanessa Ford
A transgender boy prepares for the first day of school and introduces himself to his family and friends for the first time.
THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE
Despite her parents' divorce, her father coming out as gay, and his plans to marry his boyfriend, ten-year-old Bea is reassured by her parents' unconditional love, excited about getting a stepsister, and haunted by something she did last summer at her father's lake house
A HIGH FIVE FOR GLENN BURKE
After researching Glenn Burke, the first major league baseball player to come out as gay, sixth-grader Silas Wade slowly comes out to his best friend Zoey, then his coach, with unexpected consequences
TOO BRIGHT TO SEE
In the summer before middle school, eleven-yearold Bug must contend with best friend Moira suddenly caring about clothes, makeup, and boys; a ghost haunting; and the truth about Bug's gender identity.
BE WHO YOU ARE
Todd Parr
Picture book encouraging kids to be proud of what makes them unique, where they come from, and how they express themselves and see the world.
Rebecca Stead
Phil Bildner
Elise Gravel
Kyle Lukoff
CHILDREN
BE A BRIDGE
Upbeat rhyming verse and colorful illustrations of a diverse group of students invite readers to "be a bridge" by taking actions that foster inclusivity, respect, and connection.
RICK
Eleven-year-old Rick Ramsey has generally gone along with everybody, just not making waves, even though he is increasingly uncomfortable with his father's jokes about girls, and his best friend's explicit talk about sex; but now in middle school he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities can express themselves--and maybe among them he can find new friends and discover his own identity, which may just be to opt out of sex altogether
IVY ABERDEEN'S LETTER TO THE WORLD
Twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen's house is destroyed in a tornado, and in the aftermath of the storm, she begins to develop feelings for another girl at school.
IT FEELS GOOD TO BE YOURSELF: A BOOK ABOUT GENDER IDENTITY
A picture book that introduces the concept of gender identity to the youngest reader. This sweet, straightforward exploration of gender identity will give children a fuller understanding of themselves and others
THIS IS OUR RAINBOW
Featuring contributions from Eric Bell, Katherine Locke and A J Sass, this first LGBTQA+ anthology for middle-grade readers presents stories of queer fantasy, historical and contemporary stories for every letter of the acronym.
Alex Gino
Theresa Thorn
Ashley Herring Blake
Irene Latham
CHILDREN
Ed. Katherine Locke & Nicole Melleby
