LGBTQ+ Biographies and MemoirsLike this list

25 items

• The House of Hidden Meanings

  a Memoir

  RuPaul, 1960-

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  Stripping away all artifice, RuPaul recounts the story of his life with breathtaking clarity and tenderness, bringing his signature wisdom and wit to his own biography. From his early years growing up as a queer Black kid in San Diego navigating…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hijab Butch Blues

  a Memoir

  H, Lamya,

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  Fourteen years old and growing up in the Middle East, Lamya is an overachiever and a class clown, qualities that help her hide in plain sight when she realizes she has a crush on her teacher-her female teacher. She's also fourteen when she reads a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Pageboy

  a Memoir

  Page, Elliot, 1987-

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  “Can I kiss you?” It was two months before the world premiere of Juno, and Elliot Page was in his first ever queer bar. The hot summer air hung heavy around him as he looked at her. And then it happened. In front of everyone. A previously…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• We Have Always Been Here

  a Queer Muslim Memoir

  Habib, Samra

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  A queer Muslim searches for the language to express her truest self, making peace with her sexuality, her family, and Islam. Growing up in Pakistan, Samra Habib lacks a blueprint for the life she wants. She has a mother who gave up everything to be…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Alan Turing

  the Enigma

  Hodges, Andrew

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  It is only a slight exaggeration to say that the British mathematician Alan Turing (1912-1954) saved the Allies from the Nazis, invented the computer and artificial intelligence, and anticipated gay liberation by decades--all before his suicide at…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Be Gay, Do Comics!

  Queer History, Memoir, and Satire From The Nib

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  The dream of a queer separatist town. The life of a gay, Jewish Nazi-fighter. A gender reveal party that tears reality apart. These are just some of the comics you'll find in this massive queer comics anthology from The Nib. This graphic novel is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Over the Top

  a Raw Journey to Self-love

  Van Ness, Jonathan

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  Television personality Jonathan Van Ness uncovers the pain and passion it took to end up becoming the model of self-love and acceptance that he is today. In this revelatory, raw, and rambunctious memoir, Jonathan shares never-before-told secrets and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• A Two-spirit Journey

  the Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder

  Chacaby, Ma-Nee, 1950-

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  A compelling, harrowing, but ultimately uplifting story of resilience and self-discovery. "A Two-Spirit Journey" is Ma-Nee Chacaby's extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From her early, often harrowing memories of life and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Unprotected

  a Memoir

  Porter, Billy

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  Growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy. Before Porter was winning Emmys, Tonys and Grammys, he was a boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn't fit in. At five years old Porter was sent to therapy to 'fix' his…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Redefining Realness

  My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More

  Mock, Janet, 1983-

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  In 2011, Marie Claire magazine published a profile of Janet Mock in which she publicly stepped forward for the first time as a trans woman. Since then, Mock has gone from covering the red carpet for People.com to advocating for all those who live…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• How to Write An Autobiographical Novel

  Chee, Alexander

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  From the author of The Queen of the Night, an essay collection exploring how we form our identities in life, in politics, and in art

• Boy Erased

  a Memoir

  Conley, Garrard

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  When Garrard was a nineteen-year-old college student, he was outed to his parents, and was forced to make a life-changing decision: either agree to attend a church-supported conversion therapy program that promised to "cure" him of homosexuality; or…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• When We Rise

  My Life in the Movement

  Jones, Cleve

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  A longtime LGBTQ and AIDS activist offes an account of his life from sexually liberated 1970s San Francisco, through the AIDS crisis, and up to his present-day involvement with the marriage equality battle.

• Me

  John, Elton

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  In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman , to becoming a living legend.

• In the Dream House

  a Memoir

  Machado, Carmen Maria

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  In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado's account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Angry Queer Somali Boy

  a Complicated Memoir

  Ali, Mohamed Abdulkarim, 1985-

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  Writing from a homeless shelter in downtown Toronto, Mohamed 'Mo' Ali chronicles how he ended up there in this powerful and often irreverent memoir of exile, addiction, and racism. Kidnapped by his father on the eve of Somalia's societal implosion,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Tomorrow Will Be Different

  Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality

  McBride, Sarah, 1990-

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  Sarah's story of identity, love, and tragic loss serves as a powerful entry point for readers who want to gain a deeper understanding of gender identity and what it means to be openly transgender. From issues like bathroom access to healthcare,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Sissy

  a Coming-of-gender Story

  Tobia, Jacob, 1991-

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  From the moment a doctor in Raleigh, North Carolina, put 'male' on Jacob Tobia's birth certificate, everything went wrong. Alongside 'male' came many other, far less neutral words: words that carried expectations about who Jacob was and who Jacob…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• High School

  Quin, Sara, 1980-

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  This is the revelatory and unique coming-of-age story of Sara and Tegan Quin, identical twins from Calgary, Alberta, growing up in the height of grunge and rave culture in the 90s, well before they became the celebrated musicians and global LGBTQ…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• One Life

  Rapinoe, Megan, 1985-

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  Megan Rapinoe, Olympic gold medallist and two-time Women's World Cup champion, has become a galvanizing force for social change; here, she urges all of us to take up the mantle, with actions big and small, to continue the fight for justice and…Read moreRead more of this annotation