Celebrate the impact of writers in the LGBTQ+ community and their work!
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month and we have a number of resources available to help you discover, celebrate, and honor the vast contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and non-binary writers, both past and present.
The American Writers Museum recognizes that sexual identity is an inherently personal matter and it is important to honor that. With that in mind, the AWM curators chose not to “out” writers in our exhibits who were not open with their identities during their lifetimes. Though, through scholarly research and literary analysis—combined with our current understanding and acceptance of sexual identity—we can look at these writers’ lives with a modern lens. It is also important to note that terminology relating to sex, gender, and sexual attraction has shifted and grown through the years, and continues to do so. Many authors just didn’t have access to the language to define their identities. But now we do.
Pauli Murray (1910-1985) was a poet, a lawyer, a priest, a freight hopper, Eleanor Roosevelt’s friend, arrested for refusing to comply with bus segregation laws, a closeted member of the LBGTQ+ community, a professor, and so much more. Their work has influenced Supreme Court decisions, the Civil Rights movement, and countless individual people, such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Get to know the life and work of Pauli Murray and see how they used writing to fight for justice for all oppressed communities.
In our special exhibit My America, available both online and in person, contemporary immigrant and refugee writers explore themes of home, community, language, duality, and what it means to be “American.” Acclaimed writers like poet Rigoberto González, novelist R. O. Kwon, and author Akwaeke Emezi share insights into their craft and how their gender and sexual identities overlap with their respective immigrant experiences.
Watch Jennifer Finney Boylan discuss her recent memoir Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs with comedian and LGBTQ+ rights activist Kathy Griffin. Boylan’s 2003 memoir, She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders, was the first book published by an openly transgender American to become a bestseller.
Over on our YouTube channel we’ve put together an LGBTQ+ Pride Month playlist for your viewing pleasure.
Hit the American Writers Museum blog for more LGBTQ+ Pride Month content.
Add to your To Be Read pile with various LGBTQ+ themed book recommendation lists.
