Books to celebrate LGBTQ+ History Month 2024

This year’s theme was Medicine celebrating the contribution of LGBTQ+ people to Medicine and Healthcare. In particular, the national organisers wanted to mark the amazing work of LGBTQ+ staff across the NHS and in other healthcare settings, in providing healthcare, especially during the pandemic. The month also shone a light on the history of the LGBTQ+ community’s complicated experience of receiving healthcare and the ongoing health inequalities.

The recommendations didn’t have to be ‘on theme’.  We asked you for books that celebrate LGBTQ+ life, culture and creativity in all its beauty and diversity.

How many have you read? Share your own recommendations through the online form or on Instagram.

Under the scope: celebrating the contribution of LGBTQ+ people to Medicine and Healthcare

Transgender Health: A Practitioner's Guide to Binary and Non-Binary Trans Patient Care by Vincent Ben

“It's quite comprehensive as an overview and uses trans-friendly language. It was published quite recently, so the information is up-to-date for the most part. The author is non-binary”.

Clinical Judgements by Claire Rayner

“It covers the topic of medicine relating to LGBTQ+ themes. It's not altogether celebratory but it is interesting.”

Dawn Kinnersley, Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science (LCCOS) 

Powerful and empowering poetry and fiction 

The Lost Language of Cranes by David Leavitt

“For me it is a classic LGBTQ+ work. The first book I read, in the early 80s, where the subject was a Gay story. Empowering.”

Marco Dorneles, LCCOS

The Colour Purple by Alice Walker

“This book changed the way I saw faith and relationships. Although overlooked by the film adaptations, the main character Celie has a profound queer love story with Shug. So read the book!!!”

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

“This book is beautifully written by two authors in a really unique format. The story is very intense and gripping, one that definitely stays with you long after you finish it.”

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

“My favourite queer book of all time & one of the most beautiful pieces of writing. Vuong writes about queerness, rurality, and the immigrant parent experience.”

Ngai Lan Tam, The Bartlett School of Architecture

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

“Funny, thought provoking, entertaining, love the locations, want to be the main character!”

Deb Nichols, Students' Union UCL

Warrior: A collection of short stories by Claudie Arseneault, Kayla Bashe et al.    

“I enjoyed the variety of stories in the book, some being post-apocalyptic and some being sci-fi or fantasy. The book addresses queerness in its characters but not in the way many books do where they feel the need to explain the character's queerness; in each of the stories the queer characters are just queer, and it isn't central to the plot usually.”

Marian Jago

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

“Swimming in the Dark is set in Poland during the decline of communism. It's a stunning novel that follows the protagonists’ clear feelings yet their difficult interactions with the world surrounding him - religion, law, friendships, family. It illustrates the constraints of society on love in two different ways, which is frustrating to read, but at the same time realistic in many cases. It's a good read for those wanting to explore a historical perspective of being queer in eastern Europe, that to an extent is still alive today.”

Iwona, UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

“This book made me shiver out of fear twice. Cry once. And put the book down out of shock four times.  This book isn’t contemporary because it’s easy and relatable. It’s contemporary because that makes it so much more intriguing. The horror would diminish if it were in some far-off, unknowable land. It has fantastic queer representation and tackles amazing issues: sexism, the toxic culture of silence around harassment, toxic masculinity, reckless idealisation of yonder year and accepting all the negatives that come with it, gender fluidity and the way people handle it, and hiveminds.”

Neel Le Meur, Bartlett School of Planning

Gentleman Jigger by Richard Bruce Nugent

“It's an extraordinary fictionalised account of the lives of the artists involved in the Harlem Renaissance, from one of the few participants to be (relatively) open about his sexuality at the time.  Affectionately lampoons some of the pretensions of his aspiring friends and their wider supporters.  Nugent was one of the collaborators in the creation of the single issue magazine "Fire!!" which sought to give a voice to black American writers who didn't want to toe the 'respectability' line, and thought they should be able to use their art to represent the topics and concerns they were talking about amongst themselves rather than setting themselves up to be measured against the literary standards of 'polite' society."

Phil Ellaway, Department of Greek & Latin

300,000 Kisses. Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World by Luke Edward Hall and Seán Hewitt

“A beautifully illustrated selection of freshly translated poems and stories from Ancient Greece and Rome about queer love”.

Fiachra Mac Góráin, Department of Greek and Latin

This Arab Is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers edited by Elias Jahshan 

“The stories and narratives in this book explore the intersection between Arab culture and LGBTQ+ identities, highlighting voices of those who are often ignored, forgotten, or drowned out - and yet whose identities are increasingly politicised. The honest unfiltered stories in it will make you cry, laugh, and everything in between, and importantly show that no two experiences are the same.”

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi

“Addresses a lot of delicate, sensitive issues incl. sexuality, gender and self identity, generational clashes, political upheaval and more in 1980/90s Nigeria.”

Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen 

“I think a lot of people went through similar experiences as the queer characters in this book and I believe it’s a nice feeling to be able to relate to these characters and their challenges.”

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

“It was a great book - and I think many could benefit from it in gaining compassion for the trans community.”

Non-fiction

A Girlhood: A Letter to My Transgender Daughter by Carolyn Hays

“It's incredibly informative and personal. A great read for trans pupils as well as those trying to be better allies and understand the trans experience better.”

Conundrum by Jan Morris

“It's a beautifully written, intensely personal insight into the life and transition of a transgender woman in the mid-late 20th Century. Morris' account inspires understanding and sympathy for the trans experience and provides hope for the possibility of trans joy - without skirting around the obstacles facing trans people, many of which remain today. However, we may also feel prompted to push back on some of the assumptions Morris propounds, her memoir being a portrait of a more traditional, less self-critical gender ideology than is dominant now. The book is nuanced, lyrical, and stayed with me for years after I first read it; prompting reflection on questions both personal and political.”        

Queer Footprints: A Guide to Uncovering London's Fierce History by Dan Glass

“It's a great way of (re)discovering London through a queer lens!”

Charo, History

Prick up Your Ears: The Biography of Joe Orton by John Lahr

“Joe Orton was a gay man living in Britain when it was still illegal and you could go to jail because of it. He was also someone who rose from humble working class origins to being one of Britain's most promising playwrights before his tragic death in 1967 at the height of his fame.”

Terry Caulfield, LCCOS

Nothing Ever Just Disappears by Diarmuid Hester

“Diarmuid and I used to work together at Sussex many years ago, and I've been wanting to read his BRILLIANT new work about queer spaces since it came out last year!”

Jo Baines, LCCOS

50 LGBTQI+ who changed the world by Florent Manelli  

“A tribute and a celebration to 50 to activists, personalities, writers and artists who have advanced the LGBTQI+ movement fighting every day to create a more inclusive and tolerant world.”

Sara

The Bi-Ble: Essays and Narratives About Bisexuality by Lauren Nickodemus and Ellen Desmond

“Bisexuality is still marginalised within the queer community. Precisely because they do not conform to wider expectations of what queerness means, our stories matter too.”

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this list.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in UCL Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science

This activity was organised through the Library Liberating the Collections Group. The purpose of this group is to identify and oversee progress with a strategic set of actions intended to enrich the collections, increasing visibility of, and access to, works by authors who have been marginalised (and thus less heard) because of factors such as race, sexuality, gender and disability. Any titles that we don’t already own we will buy and add to our collections and will be available shortly.