The Writers' Room: Celebrating LGBTQ+ literature

The late writer bell hooks defined queer as “not about who you’re having sex with … but as being about the self that is at odds with everything around it.”

As LGBTQ+ rights have expanded, so too has the canon of queer literature. According to industry tracker NPD Bookscan, LGBTQ+ fiction book sales sold almost 5 million copies last year, doubling sales between 2020 and 2021.

But, access to these stories is in jeopardy. More than 30 states have introduced anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year. Some that of that legislation includes the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill that passed in Florida this March. That law bans the discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, including books that touch on those topics. More than a dozen states have introduced similar bills.

Author Kristen Arnett knows the personal toll these kinds of bans take as a gay teenager who grew up in Florida.