25 LGBTQ+ Books That Deliver Bold Plots And Strong Voices

Forbes

3 days ago

LGBTQ books are displayed at the annual Pride Town Hall at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, ... More MD, May 21, 2022
From romance to fantasy and even YA and books for teens, there have always been LGBTQ+ writers and queer books. Even when authors had to hide their narratives between poetry and pseudonyms, there has never been a world without queer literature; no matter how many bans or burns arise, there never will be. It is hard to rank the best gay books, partially because, especially in recent years, the genre has exploded. There are so many excellent queer books out there. While this list only scratches the surface, it is the perfect place to start for those looking to wade into the world of LGBTQ books.
For the purposes of this list, queer literature is defined by the inclusion of queer characters or queer stories in the work. While it isn't specifically about the writer, it also seeks to showcase LGBTQ+ authors.
This list contains both fiction and non-fiction works and even poetry. Ranking on a list like this isn't an easy task. Some of these books won't be for every reader, and multiple genres complicate the process. However, this list looks not only at quality but also history and, on some level, unfortunately, the tastes of the author.
Not all queer books can be doom and gloom. Some have to be pulpy, humorous serials. The first book in a ten-novel series, Tales of the City, was originally published as a serial in the Pacific Sun and San Francisco Chronicle. The 1978 novel follows a woman who moves from Ohio into a funky apartment building and the overlapping lives of its many zany tenants.
Armistead Maupin had the initial idea for Tales of the City while staying at Rock Hudson's house in Southern California. While the series became extremely popular, it was hard for him to get it published originally. However, he assured the Chronicle that he wouldn't let 'the homo characters didn't suddenly outnumber the hetero ones and thereby undermine the natural order of civilization." Here's where you can purchase Tales of the City.
This book's inclusion on this list is a bit of a catch-all. There are so many excellent queer poets and this anthology captures many of them in the same book. Hand in Hand with Love: An anthology of queer classic poetry was edited by Dr. Simon Avery, a specialist in queer history and culture at the University of Westminster.
The anthology features works from Sappho, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Christina Rossetti, Wilfred Owen, Edna St. Vincent Millay and more. It's a great primer for anyone interested in queer poetry. Here's where you can purchase Hand in Hand with Love: An anthology of queer classic poetry.
Can a vampire novel that predates Bram Stoker's Dracula also be a lesbian classic? Well, yes, if it is Carmilla. The 1872 gothic novel follows a teenage girl who begins a relationship with a mysterious, seemingly teenage girl named Carmilla.
The novel plays with attraction and repulsion, establishing many of the genre's tropes for years to come. While it also established the somewhat harmful trope of the 'Lesbian Vampire,' it is a much more nuanced and interesting portrayal than what the trope would later become. Here's where you can purchase Carmilla.
Many great YA books for LGBTQ+ youth have come out in recent years, like I Can't Even Think Straight by Dean Atta, Into the Light by Mark Oshiro, and They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. However, among the best (and a slightly earlier entry into the genre) is 2012's Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
Set in late 1980s Texas, the book follows two Mexican-American teenagers as they navigate friendship, sexuality and familial relationships. It is an extremely well-paced and tender book about living without shame (a great message for young readers). Here's where you can purchase Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe.
Zaina Arafat's debut novel, You Exist Too Much, follows a young queer Palestinian woman through vignettes from New York to Lebanon as she searches for love and home.
The novel is at times uneven, but it captures a beautiful story about self-love. Published in 2020, it is one of a couple of recent books about queer Palestinians, along with 2023's The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher and Blood Orange by Yaffa As. Here's where you can purchase You Exist Too Much.
A Single Man follows a LA-based British professor on a day after the death of his partner. Originally published in 1964, the book was shocking for its sensitive portrayal of a middle-aged gay man.
Christopher Isherwood may be best known for his 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin, which was adapted into the musical Cabaret. However, A Single Man is a beautiful and affecting work, by an important LGBT author. Here's where you can purchase A Single Man.
The debut novel by Torrey Peters, Detransition, Baby, took the queer community by storm in 2021. The book follows a recently detransitioned trans woman named Ames, Ames' pregnant cis-lover and Ames' trans ex girlfriend as they navigate pregnancy, queer identity and their 30s living in Brooklyn.
It is a messy story about parenthood, ex-girlfriends, love and detransitioning in an almost soapy and digestible way. It was nominated for the 2021 Women's Prize for Fiction, making Peters the first openly trans woman nominated for the award. Here's where you can purchase Detransition, Baby.
There have been many great recent queer novels, but one of the best is easily Ocean Vuong's On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. The 2019 epistolary novel takes the form of a letter from a son to his illiterate Vietnamese mother.
It is a deeply heartbreaking book that chronicles trauma and tragedy. The book almost reads like a poem, and, fittingly, Vuong is probably best known for his poetry. If On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a little too triggering, his poetry analogy Time Is a Mother may be a slightly safer choice. Here's where you can purchase On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.
The true crime genre can be controversial; however, Elon Green's Last Call does it right. It is a deep dive into a series of killings of gay men in the 1990s in New York. However, it is about more than that. It looks at the gay scene of the 1990s and its relation to the closet and policing.
The strength of the work lies in its sensitive portrayal of those who were murdered as well as the documentation of a bygone community. True crime won't be for everyone, but for fans, Last Call is an impressive piece. Here's where you can purchase Last Call.
An Unkindness of Ghosts is a fabulous Sci-Fi book about a racially segregated mothership and a passenger who must solve a mystery connected to her mother's suicide. The 2017 novel takes a fairly unique approach to Sci-Fi, prominently using poetry and metaphor.
An Unkindness of Ghosts explores afro-futurism, structural racism and neurodivergence in a unique way. It is intense, but it stays with the reader. Here's where you can purchase An Unkindness of Ghosts.
Maurice is about a same sex relationship in 1900s England. The novel was initially written in 1913-1914 and rewritten several times; however, it wasn't published until 1971 after the death of its author, E.M. Forster. Forster worried that the happy ending would open him up to prosecution since homosexuality was still Illegal in the UK. He even left a note on his manuscript, 'Publishable, but worth it?'
When the novel was published in 1971, it wasn't critically praised. However, it became a classic for many gay readers. When it comes to the history of queer publishing Maurice is important, but it's more than just that. It is a sweet story about self-actualization. Here's where you can purchase Maurice.
Professor Susan Stryker has written extensively about the transgender community in the U.S., and her 2008 book Transgender History is among her best works. It is a concise history of the trans community in America.
This book is a quick read but packed with context. It is a perfect first step for those looking to learn more about the transgender community and its history. Here's where you can purchase Transgender History.
The Song of Achilles is a retelling of the Trojan War from the perspective of Patroclus and his romantic relationship with Achilles. While not a part of Homer's account of the same events in the Iliad, as far back as Aeschylus, there have been stories about a relationship between the two. The Song of Achilles uses this historical context to create a page turning romance.
The book blends history, mythology and storytelling in a beautifully dynamic way. Author Madeline Miller clearly loves classics and ancient history. The book was published in 2011 and was well received by critics, winning the Orange Prize for Fiction. However, it surprisingly re-emerged as a 'booktok'—a book on TikTok—in 2021, leading to further popularization. Here's where you can purchase The Song of Achilles.
Joshua Whitehead has written some fantastic books from the two-spirit perspective, including Johnny Appleseed and Making Love with the Land: Essays. However, Love After the End is a little different. It is an anthology of works from emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer Indigenous) writers.
From writers like Darcie Little Badger, Mari Kurisato, Kai Minosh Pyle, David Alexander Robertson and jaye simpson, the collection looks at resistance, survival and the future in ingenious ways. Here's where you can purchase Love After the End.
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit is a coming-of-age story about a lesbian who grows up in an evangelical community. Originally published in 1985, the novel examines family, faith and same-sex relationships.
The book is semi-autobiographical and connects to author Jeanette Winterson's experiences growing up in the Elim Pentecostal Church. It is a classic British novel full of allusions and literary references. It has also long been on the GCSE and A-Level reading lists for education in England and Wales, making it a favorite of advanced UK high school curricula. Here's where you can purchase Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
1987's And the Band Played On is an amazing work that chronicles the discovery of HIV and the politics that surrounded the early days of the AIDS epidemic. The book looks at the gay community, the medical community, the media and the government and their actions or lack thereof during the 1980s.
Author Randy Shilts was a journalist at the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote extensively about HIV and was disturbed by how unseriously many members of the media took the epidemic. Shilts tested positive for HIV while writing And the Band Played On and passed away from AIDS related complications in 1994. Here's where you can purchase And the Band Played On.
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by Alice Walker. The book follows a poor African American girl in 1900s Georgia who falls for a jook joint performer.
While the book is a high school reading list classic, it is a brutal story that includes abuse and violence. It has faced censorship for years and has appeared on banned book lists. However, it also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 and received near universal acclaim. It has been made into two movies and a Broadway musical. Here's where you can purchase The Color Purple.
The Stonewall Reader is a collection of diary entries, firsthand accounts, queer newspaper articles and other materials that capture the stories of those involved in the gay rights movement in New York between 1964 and 1974. The years surrounding the Stonewall Uprising in 1969 are often seen as the catalyst for queer activism in the U.S.
Much of the reader comes from materials collected by the New York Public Library, and it is edited by the NYPL coordinator of humanities and LGBTQ collections, Jason Baumann. It is a fascinating and moving historical text which is a must read for anyone interested in Queer history and activism. Here's where you can purchase The Stonewall Reader.
This 1952 lesbian classic is a must read for those interested in queer literature. Originally published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, The Price of Salt follows a young woman who falls for a housewife/mother, leading to a jealous husband and a custody case.
The book was made into the movie Carol in 2015, and the book was also re-released under the name Carol in 1990. Its relatively happy ending and early publish date make it fairly unique (especially for its time). It is still a beautiful novel over seventy years later. Here's where you can purchase The Price of Salt.
Stone Butch Blues is a 1993 classic about a butch lesbian's life in New York City. The novel draws heavily from author Leslie Fienberg's life. It is a hard but essential read that examines the prejudice levied against those who push the bounds of traditional gender roles and the power of activism.
It is considered a bit of a cult classic in the LGBTQ community. The book won the Stonewall Book Award (at the time called the American Library Association Gay & Lesbian Book Award). Its title is referenced in another wonderful queer book, Lamya H's 2023 memoir, Hijab Butch Blues. Here is where to downlaod a PDF of Stone Butch Blues.
Audre Lorde's 1984 collection of essays, Sister Outsider, is essential for understanding intersectionality in the queer community. As a Black, lesbian writer and mother, Lorde draws on past experiences to explore Black feminism and oppression.
The book adds to ​​critical social theory by looking at the overlapping and interlocking nature of oppression for intersectional identities. The collection includes essays from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. It is an impactful work that still feels incredibly timely. If you're looking for more intersectional essay collections, 1981's This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Cherríe L. Moraga and Ana Castillo, and Ain't I a Woman? by bell hooks are also great choices. Here's where you can purchase Sister Outsider.
Originally published in 1928, Virginia Woolf's Orlando follows a poet who lives for centuries, changing from a man to a woman and meeting the great minds of literature throughout the decades.
The book takes inspiration from the family history of Woolf's lover​, Vita Sackville-West. While it has some dated elements, it is a classic of feminist literature that has been studied by LGBTQ and especially trans scholars for its themes. It isn't the only LGBTQ classic by Woolf; Mrs. Dalloway is less noted than Orlando, but it is a must-read for those interested in 1920s lesbian literature. Here's where you can purchase Orlando.
When Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw was first published in 1994, it made waves. The book examines society's relationship to gender and the origins of gender. It is still revolutionary today, over thirty years later.
Borstein's own journey from a heterosexual male IBM salesperson to a nonbinary lesbian playwright colors the book as it examines what gender means in society. The book looks at the spectrum of gender in a beautiful and introspective way. In many ways, it highlights the power of questioning not only ourselves but also culture and the world. Here's where you can purchase Gender Outlaw.
There are a couple of wonderful graphic autobiographies from queer cartoonists, including Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir and Spinning by Tillie Walden. However, arguably the best is Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. The 2006 graphic novel chronicles Bechdel's childhood living in a funeral home, the death of her closeted father and her own journey as a lesbian.
While it is a graphic novel, it is not for children. This is not only because of its ruminations on suicide and brief sex scenes but also because it's pretty dense with many references to literature and queer art. However, it is a gorgeous piece about family and sexuality. Bechdel followed up the memoir with another, 2012's Are You My Mother? Fun Home was also adapted into a Broadway musical in 2013. Here's where you can purchase Fun Home.
Giovanni's Room is a 1958 novel about an American living in Europe and his frustrating relationship with Giovanni, an Italian bartender working at a Parisian Gay bar. The book isn't only an essential work in the history of queer literature but also a beautiful exploration of bisexuality, internalized homophobia and societal isolation.
The book was highly controversial, and Baldwin's publisher even said, "This new book will ruin your career,' and suggested that he burn it. However, it has become a beloved classic. It is even the namesake of America's longest-running queer bookstore, Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni's Room in Philadelphia, which has been called the 'center of gay Philly.' Here's where you can purchase Giovanni's Room.
Bottom Line
There are a lot of queer books, especially in recent years. This list just scratches the surface; so comment your LGBTQ+ favorites and happy reading!
Who Are Popular LGBTQ+ Authors?
In some ways, there is a difference between authors who are LGBTQ+ and authors who write queer stories. However, this mainly applies to early queer authors who weren't always able to be explicit in their narratives. At the same time, even under repressive systems, authors like Oscar Wilde and Walt Witman explored queer themes in their works.
Writers like James Baldwin, Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde and Rita Mae Brown helped shape what LGBTQ+ writing would look like for a new generation. Currently, authors like Ocean Vuong, Torrey Peters and Carmen Maria Machado have become icons of new queer books.
What Are Great LGBTQ+ Romance Novels?
LGBTQ+ romance novels are having a moment. While some more classic romance works made this list, if you are looking for more typical modern romance books, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a great choice. The 2017 novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid follows a writer as she works on the biography of one of Hollywood's biggest stars, who is ready to come out of the closet.
Also published in 2017, Mackenzi Lee's The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue is great for the Bridgerton crowd. Set in the 1700s, the book follows a reckless queer aristocrat, his sister and the love of his life on a Grand Tour of Europe.
What Are Great LGBTQ+ Graphic Novels?
One of the best LGBTQ+ graphic novels is easily Alison Bechdel's Fun Home, but if you are looking for more books, Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe is great. The memoir follows eir journey towards gender acceptance (Kobabe uses e/em/eir pronouns). It is a cathartic and powerful work about the true nature of gender.
If you are looking for a truly easy read, Alice Oseman's Heartstopper series is a good choice. The first book was published in 2018, but there are now five books in the series. It is a sweet story about two high schoolers who fall in love. The series was also turned into a live-action Netflix series.
What Are Great LGBTQ+ Books For Teens?
There are many great LGBTQ+ books for teens, especially recently. While a couple made this list, Ann Zhao's Dear Wendy (2024) should be included as further reading. Dear Wendy follows two aromantic and asexual students who run competing advice columns but become friends in real life.
Brent Hartinger's 2003 novel Geography Club is a slightly older but still delightful choice. The book follows a gay teen and his two friends who start a secret Gay-Straight Alliance under the pretense of being a geography club.