Books to celebrate LGBT+ History Month

In celebration of LGBT+ History Month 2026, we invited members of the UCL community to recommend books celebrating the contributions of LGBT+ people to science and innovation or celebrating LGBT+ life more broadly.

Some of you shared books that tell the stories of real LGBT+ scientists through history, while many others interpreted the theme more broadly, sharing fictional works with LGBT+ representation and scientific themes, be they historical fiction, modern fiction or science fiction.

Thank you to everyone who recommended a book. We aim to acquire any books which aren’t already in UCL’s library collection, so you’ll be able to borrow them from the library in future.

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

Science and Innovation

Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges

"A deeply thorough look at one of the fathers of computer science, the cracker of the enigma, and one of the greatest mathematical minds of the 20th century."

Staff

Queering Public Policy: A Disruptive Yet Inclusive Framework for Policymaking by Diego Galego

"Since this year's main theme is Science & Innovation, this book provides an innovative framework for the policymaking process. One of the most pressing issues is that policies have been creating exclusionary and discriminatory systems. Therefore, Queering Public Policy offers the potential to go beyond CIS heteronormative frameworks creating more problems than solutions. Queering Public Policy gives hope to LGBTQ+ communities amid such a hostile global political environment."

Science Fiction

The Outside by Ada Hoffman

"Really fun book that starts with a focus on speculative physics and space travel and gradually progresses into something a bit different."

Staff

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

"Queer speculative biology / space travel / interstellar astronaut scientists. Queer elements very subtle, I recommend all works by this author including the Wayfarers series which has lots more queer representation."

Staff

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

"As a short piece of science-fiction/solar punk, A Psalm for the Wild-Built explores the dynamics of community and purpose through the perspective of a travelling tea-monk and their robot companion in a way that is gentle, engaging, and, most of all, hopeful."

Staff

The Seep by Chana Porter

"Very interesting look at an unusual alien technology, queer representation. Speculative fiction."

Staff

Science themed historical and modern fiction

Last Night at The Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

"Last Night at The Telegraph Club is a historical romance novel primarily set in 1950's San Francisco. The story follows 17-year-old, aspiring rocket scientist, Lily Hu, who upon discovering the existence of The Telegraph Club, a nightclub for lesbians and drag king performers, begins to discover her own lesbian identity and first love. Written by, and featuring a Chinese American Lesbian woman, Last Night at The Telegraph provides much needed representation for an often-marginalised group within Western LGBTQ+ history and media. The book is rich with Chinese culture, especially food and language, yet also highlights assimilation into American culture by Chinese immigrants as a means of survival in America. This thoroughly researched novel (Lo includes author's notes and a bibliography at the end) is set during a period of history where suspicion and deportation of Chinese Americans, fear of Communism, and LGBTQ+ people intersect. Despite this unsettling context, the tone of the novel is not bleak, nor overly tense, nor traumatic. It is an engagingly tender story of youth, community, and love.  UCL Libraries holds a copy of this book to borrow."

Lucie Bardowell, Library, Culture, Collections and Open Science, staff

Nuclear Family by Kate Davies

"The novel explores with humour and sensitivity the issues of IVF and DNA testing from a LGBT+ perspective. One of The Times 'Best books of 2024'. 'An exhilarating meditation on the meaning of family' [The Bookseller]."

Staff

Other fiction

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

"Needs no explanation. Icon of lesbian literature."

Kelly Wu, Slade School of Fine Art, student

Woodworking by Emily St. James

"An incredible look into the differences between how trans women lived in society 50 years ago versus today. Heartwarming, life-affirming, and so sarky you will be laughing out loud."

Lisa Weston, Royal Free, staff

A Jingle Jangle Song by Mariana Villa-Gilbert

"This 'lost' 1960s queer classic follows superstar folk singer Sarah Kumar as she breezes through London and falls in love with an older woman. Not only is the prose rich and delicious, but the novel was one of only about 30 British novels in the mid-twentieth century to centre the experience of queer women. A Jingle Jangle Song has just been republished by independent publisher Lurid Editions."

Christopher Adams, Faculty of Laws, staff

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

"It talks so tenderly about lesbianism, about the push-and-pull and negotiation of queerness vis-à-vis our socially constructed identities (like our religion, linguistic heritage, cultural likes and dislikes). Jeanette's writing is so accessible and natural too, and the book feels so personal and intimate while reading it!"

Tanvi Kulkarni, Education, student

Love Me Tender by Constance Debré

"It made me feel free."

Fran, Primary Care Population Health, staff

Wolfsong of the Green Creek series by T. J. Klune

"The worldbuilding is beautiful, the characters are loveable, and the plot is so engaging! It's a series of 4 books, and each book is better than the last."

Student

Memoir

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

"The author recounts and reflects on her own experience of domestic abuse, using an imaginative and highly original narrative style. She frames her story through parallels drawn from art, pop music, Disney villains and queer history. Machado argues that domestic abuse within the LGBTQ+ community is too often left undiscussed and that this silence causes real harm to those experiencing it. Despite its harrowing subject matter, this is a deeply beautiful book."

Luciano Rila, Mathematics, staff

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 aim to buy and add to our collections, so they are available to borrow.