The LGBTQ community is a significant part of history, but according to most school curriculums in the US, queer people don’t exist.
When I was in high school, the only LGBTQ-related book I read was “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, which is an amazing book in itself. “The Color Purple” discussed Black woman autonomy, discovering one’s own body, the importance of female relationships and friendships and the exploration of sexuality.
But how come after over a decade of learning I only learned a single queer story?
There has been plenty of debate of the lack of diversity in books in the classroom, according to a March 9, 2022 Edutopia article, “Studies of children’s books indicate that most of the characters within the sample are White, ranging from half to 90 percent of the illustrations. Characters who represent Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities are about 10 percent of the illustrations or fewer, with some ethnic and racial groups featured at 1 percent.”
Edutopia is a part of the George Lucas Educational Foundation that aims to improve education for children.
Most school curriculums push the classics such as Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Fitzgerald. It seems the education board doesn’t understand that students should learn multiple perspectives and ways of life, not just the cishet male complaining about the white male experience. I wanted to gauge my eyes out at books like “Lord of the Flies” and “The Catcher in the Rye.”
With the lack of diversity in culture and ethnicity, there’s even a larger gap in LGTBQ representation.
According to the same Edutopia article, there’s barely any representation for LGBTQ themed books, especially for transgender and intersectionality, “Nonbinary and transgender characters are rarely portrayed, and those characters of intersectional racial/ethnic and gender identities may be presented in limiting and problematic portrayals, with occasional affirming depictions.”
Teachers recognize that there should be more inclusive learning for students that are a part of the LGBTQ community to be represented.
Juno Dawson taught sex education and wellness for years and realized there wasn’t enough education on the LGTBQ community. To offer students an expansion on sexuality and gender education, Dawson wrote and published “This Book Is Gay,” which discusses sexuality, gender and how to preserve wellbeing in queer relationships.
“[When I was learning about sex in the ‘90s] It was the shadow of HIV and AIDS as well. So I was very scared of sex,” said Dawson in an April 5 Rolling Stones interview. “I made some very risky choices. And I just didn’t want that for the next generation. I wished there was a way that young queer people could go out into adulthood armed with better knowledge, and ways of being smart about sex and dating.”
However, “This Book Is Gay” has become one of the most banned books in the U.S., according to the Advocate, alongside “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky.
“This Book Is Gay” was claimed to have inappropriate themes, but it was meant for young adults to learn about LGTBQ sex education safely and healthily. By banning this book, and others like it, LGTBQ youth won’t be able to gain access to life-changing information.
This isn’t just about health wellness of LGTBQ, but also representation. There are so many books on the banned book list that celebrate diversity and queerness, such as “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe.
“Gender Queer: A Memoir” is a book about Kobabe’s struggle of being nonbinary in a world that is steeped in gender norms only acknowledging two genders.
“It’s very hard to hear people say ‘This book is not appropriate to young people’ when it’s like, I was a young person for whom this book would have been not only appropriate, but so, so necessary,” Kobabe said in a Dec. 19, 2021 NBC article. “There are a lot of people who are questioning their gender, questioning their sexuality and having a real hard time finding honest accounts of somebody else on the same journey. There are people for whom this is vital and for whom this could maybe even be lifesaving.”
It is so essential for kids who are growing up to see people who align with different identities that they themselves could identify with. I remember the first time I started to question my sexuality and gender identity, it was so lonely thinking I was the only one feeling this way because of the lack of representation.
LGBTQ youth barely have access to mental health services, and without proper support, it can lead to dire consequences, according to a May 5, 2022 NPR article, “45% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Additionally, nearly 1 in 5 transgender and nonbinary youth attempted suicide.”
One of my favorite novels that detail the coming out experience is “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, a novel about a young teenager named Ari realizing he’s falling in love with his best friend Dante.
Both Ari and Dante are first generation Mexican-Americans and learn to fall in love with life as they grow up with another, Dante is the first to come out as gay and is faced with the harsh homophobic world of the 90s.
Ari struggles with himself, an internal battle of denial and restraint towards the idea of being gay. To me, this happened to be the most reliable and transparent coming out experience I’ve read, because even when there’s family and friends you have to come out to – the hardest person to come out is yourself.
One of my favorite moments in the book that still sticks with me to this day is when Ari realizes that he finds Dante to be beautiful. In a world where there is war and people that would beat up others for being gay, finding beauty in that mess isn’t really a bad thing at all.
To me, that’s the importance of queer novels, or any queer story for that matter. It’s meant to show love as pure, well-meaning and beautiful no matter shape and size, so people inside and outside the community no longer see LGBTQ as harmful.
LGBTQ individuals aren’t living a particular lifestyle, we are simply existing. Books like “Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” shows that.
Although stories of systemic homophobia and transphobia are important, it’s equally as significant to read stories of queers simply existing.
There is an essential need to read about body dysmorphia, being closeted, police brutality against the LGBTQ community – but sometimes, in order to normalize these stories, they should focus on what matters at the center of all these issues. Queerness and identity existing without facing adversity can be interesting enough.
As someone who is queer, I understand why there’s so many coming of age stories talking about resistance to the status quo, being different and thus facing the multitude of issues in the world because of it. But I’m tired of reading just “us against the rest of the world” stories.
They’re needed, they are incredibly essential to education especially to cishet people who don’t understand the oppressive queer experience. But dear god, I just want to read more stories of two people falling in love, a simple romance, or an individual growing into their gender queer identity.
It’s important to address the issues surrounding the perception of the LGBTQ community, but it’s just as important to read stories of them just existing. I feel like sometimes I’m so overwhelmed with all the issues, that I don’t get to see a real love story unfold or a person that identifies outside the gender binary be simply comfortable with themselves.
A book that does this well would be “One Last Stop” by Casey McQuiston.
This novel felt like a love letter honoring the LGBTQ community from before creating a foundation for now.
The characters from this narrative have stuck with me, a scene in particular that stood out to me was when the character Niko, a transgender male, had his photo of his young self hung up on the fridge pre-transition. When the main character pointed it out and asked who that little girl in the picture was, Niko claimed who he was in the photo not being shy of his identity then and now.
It’s such a privilege to be in that reality to be surrounded by people who accept you for who you are and in turn accept yourself. I love and want to read more stories where it’s just a transgender person existing, being comfortable in their identity. This should be the goal of society.
In face of all the issues, it’s so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Especially now with “Don’t Say Gay” laws being implemented around the country and queer couples fearing their right to marriage will be taken away.
More agonizing, the fear that transgender youth will be forced to de-transition to their original birth sex because of a law that is ignorant, controlling and cares more about ensuring body dysmorphia is at the height of reasons of teens committing suicide rather than the ongoing issue of school shootings.
Seriously, our country is more concerned about a story of queerness rather than kids being shot and killed on their school campuses? Please reorganize your fucking priorities America, this is bullshit.
