Also.Also.Also: How Many of “The 100 Most Influential Queer Books of All-Time” Have You Read?

IT IS A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN TRAILER DROP DAY AND LITTLE ELSE MATTERS!!!

In a gif of A League of Their Own, Dottie Hinson does a full split to catch a fly ball.

Queer as in F*ck You

The 100 Most Influential Queer Books of All-Time 🥳

Elvira, aka Cassandra Peterson, Opens Up on the Freedom of Coming Out: ‘I Feel Lighter’

Carolina Panthers Hire Justine Lindsay, NFL’s First Transgender Cheerleader. “Lindsay says she will continue to ‘inspire and help my African American beautiful trans sisters.'”

I watched Fire Island on Hulu last weekend and I hoping to gather some of my thoughts into a little review situation this week, but in the meantime I really want to say that even if you haven’t seen the movie – if you want to read a truly excellent piece of queer writing about being invisible in white spaces, friendship, self-hate, and so much more, you should read this from E. Alex Jung: Pride and Prejudice and Fire Island

About 5 Percent of Young Adults Identify as Transgender or Nonbinary, U.S. Survey Finds. “Adults younger than 30 are more likely than older adults to say their gender differs from their sex assigned at birth, a new Pew Research Center report found.”

I really did not have American Girl Doll Discourse on my 2022 Pride Bingo card, however: American Girl Doll Collectors Are Fighting Homophobia Within Their Online Community

Texas Legislator Proposes Ban on Minors Watching Drag Shows, ok but what counts as a drag show in this moment? Because I lived on Rocky Horror Picture Show when I was in high school

Saw This, Thought of You

The Depp-Heard Verdict Shattered the Greatest Myth About TikTok, Once and for All. “Body language experts, ‘professional’ opinions, Lance Bass lip-syncing testimony—it took a grim toll.”

Gynecology Has a Pain Problem

OK SO! I am not usually big on “straight allies” during Pride, but the queer history of Lil Kim is specifically tied to my niche interests, and I hope you all enjoy this surprisingly thorough Twitter thread:

And speaking of twitter things, as you all know, I’m newly getting into sportsTM, but this looks! so! good!

Political Snacks

Dianne Feinstein, the Institutionalist. This is a long read, but also my pick for Must Read of the day. I keep trying to find the words and I quite simply cannot — it’s just so good.

Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our AF+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining AF and supporting the people who make this queer media site possible?

Join AF+!
Related:

Carmen Phillips

Carmen Phillips is Autostraddle's former editor in chief. She began at Autostraddle in 2017 as a freelance team writer and worked her way up through the company, eventually becoming the EIC from 2021-2024. A Black Puerto Rican feminist writer with a PhD in American Studies from New York University, Carmen specializes in writing about Blackness, race, queerness, politics, culture, and the many ways we find community and connection with each other.  During her time at Autostraddle, Carmen focused on pop culture, TV and film reviews, criticism, interviews, and news analysis. She claims many past homes, but left the largest parts of her heart in Detroit, Brooklyn, and Buffalo, NY. And there were several years in her early 20s when she earnestly slept with a copy of James Baldwin’s “Fire Next Time” under her pillow. To reach out, you can find Carmen on Twitter, Instagram, or her website.

Carmen has written 716 articles for us.

17 Comments

  1. Okay I read Bastard Out of Carolina in my early 20s based on its place in another ‘top queer novels’ list and although it is a great book I would like to stress it is extremely light on queer narrative and HEAVY on the child abuse so if you want a fun book to make you feel like fancying women is okay and nice this is probably not the one to start with !!!

    Thanks for the roundup Carmen!

    • I would like to second this. Traumatic material. I watched the end of the film to and would like to go back and not do that

  2. * Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok was a wonderful read, I recommend the audiobook version (barely over an hour!) to audio enjoyers.
    * Whipping Girl by Julia Serano has some dated stuff, but was an essential read for me when I was starting to explore my transmasculinity. It’s however really focusing on transfeminine people.
    * The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar is one of my favourite teen novels.
    * I hated Orlando and dropped it halfway. Sorry.
    * I read the portrait of Dorian Gray as a child and definitely didn’t get the not-so-subtle subtext. Really should give it another chance someday!

    And I want to add the essay anthology Gender Euphoria, curated by Laura Kate Dale, sharing happy memories & times of, well, gender euphoria. It helped me so much!

  3. 12!
    Plus 4 that I’ve only seen as a movie/show and don’t plan on reading (Call me by your name, Love Simon, Carol/Price of Salt, Tales of the City)

  4. 22! I’m seriously lacking in nonfiction though – perhaps time for a bookshop trip…

  5. Also, delighted to see Notes of a Crocodile on there, one of the best books i’ve ever read, full stop.

  7. That reading list! I learned so much just reading the list.

    I’ve read 10 on the list. I started several others but gave up. A lot of the fictional classics are way too dark for me, even the ones that were considered hopeful at the time they were published.

    I read Giovanni’s Room for a queer book club and I hated it – like reading gay Hemingway (and I don’t mean that as a compliment).

    I loved both The Henna Wars and Ramona Blue.

  9. I think just six of the books for me — Rainbow Boys, Boy Meets Boy, Lumberjanes Vol 1, Fun Home, Whipping Girl, and Howl. So I have some tomes I need to investigate :)

  10. Based only on the linked article, I’m not convinced that the proposed Texas law is *not* also a way to interfere with drag queen storytime and similar programs featuring drag performers at public libraries and other family venues. (I have very mixed feelings about different implementations of DQS but I certainly do not think they should be illegal!)

  11. I think just six of the books for me — Rainbow Boys, Boy Meets Boy, Lumberjanes Vol 1, Fun Home, Whipping Girl, and Howl. So I have some tomes I need to investigate

  12. Thank you very much for posting the AG doll discourse, because I now know that a meme account with the user name Klit Klittredge exists. Amazing.

  13. 22! I’m seriously lacking in nonfiction though – perhaps time for a bookshop trip…

  14. Okay I read Bastard Out of Carolina in my early 20s based on its place in another ‘top queer novels’ list and although it is a great book I would like to stress it is extremely light on queer narrative and HEAVY on the child abuse so if you want a fun book to make you feel like fancying women is okay and nice this is probably not the one to start with !!!

    Thanks for the roundup Carmen!

Comments are closed.