Be Proud with these LGBTQA+ books for readers of every age!
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag By Rob Sanders; illustrated by Steven Salerno
The very first picture book about the remarkable and inspiring story of the Gay Pride Flag!
In this deeply moving and empowering true story, young readers will trace the life of the Gay Pride Flag, from its beginnings in 1978 with social activist Harvey Milk and designer Gilbert Baker to its spanning of the globe and its role in today’s world. Award-winning author Rob Sanders’ stirring text and acclaimed illustrator Steven Salerno’s evocative images combine to tell this remarkable—and undertold—story. A story of love, hope, equality, and pride.
Lily and Dunkin By Donna Gephart
Award-winning author Donna Gephart crafts a compelling dual narrative about two remarkable young people: Lily, a transgender girl, and Dunkin, a boy dealing with bipolar disorder. Their powerful story will shred your heart, then stitch it back together with kindness, humor, bravery, and love.
Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl. But being a girl is not so easy when you look like a boy. Especially when you’re in the eighth grade.
Dunkin Dorfman, birth name Norbert Dorfman, is dealing with bipolar disorder and has just moved from the New Jersey town he’s called home for the past thirteen years. This would be hard enough, but the fact that he is also hiding from a painful secret makes it even worse.
One summer morning, Lily Jo McGrother meets Dunkin Dorfman, and their lives forever change.
Being Jazz By Jazz Jennings
Jazz Jennings is one of the youngest and most prominent voices in the national discussion about gender identity. At the age of five, Jazz transitioned to life as a girl, with the support of her parents. A year later, her parents allowed her to share her incredible journey in her first Barbara Walters interview, aired at a time when the public was much less knowledgeable or accepting of the transgender community. This groundbreaking interview was followed over the years by other high-profile interviews, a documentary, the launch of her YouTube channel, a picture book, and her own reality TV series–I Am Jazz–making her one of the most recognizable activists for transgender teens, children, and adults.
In her remarkable memoir, Jazz reflects on these very public experiences and how they have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community. But it hasn’t all been easy. Jazz has faced many challenges, bullying, discrimination, and rejection, yet she perseveres as she educates others about her life as a transgender teen. Discover Jazz’s story in her words.
10 Things I Can See From Here By Carrie Mac
Maeve has heard it all before. She’s been struggling with severe anxiety for a long time, and as much as she wishes it was something she could just talk herself out of, it’s not. She constantly imagines the worst, composes obituaries in her head, and is always ready for things to fall apart. To add to her troubles, her mom—the only one who really gets what Maeve goes through—is leaving for six months, so Maeve will be sent to live with her dad in Vancouver.
Vancouver brings a slew of new worries, but Maeve finds brief moments of calm (as well as even more worries) with Salix, a local girl who doesn’t seem to worry about anything. Between her dad’s wavering sobriety, her very pregnant stepmom insisting on a home birth, and her bumbling courtship with Salix, this summer brings more catastrophes than even Maeve could have foreseen. Will she be able to navigate through all the chaos to be there for the people she loves?
Two Boys Kissing By David Levithan
Based on true events—and narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS—Two Boys Kissing follows Harry and Craig, two seventeen-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record. While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teens dealing with universal questions of love, identity, and belonging.
From Rob Sanders, author of Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag, please find below some useful resources to use in your classroom or library. Learn more about Rob and his work at his website: www.robsanderswrites.com.
AN OVERVIEW OF LGBTQ+ HISTORY
August 7, 1915—First lecture on homosexuality given in the USA by Emma Goldman.
December 1924—The Society for Human Rights is formed. It is the first gay rights organization in the USA.
1936—Nazis began rounding up homosexual men and sending them to concentration camps. Later some lesbians were also imprisoned. Homosexual men were marked with upside down pink triangles, lesbians with black triangles.
June 1947—Edythe Eyde began publishing the gay magazine, Vice Versa.
January 1948—The Kinsey Report by Alfred Kinsey is published.
November 11, 1950—Harry Hay and others formed the Mattachine Society.
1951—The Homosexual in America by Donald Webster Cory is published.
April 27, 1953—President Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order that barred homosexuals from government service. The Lavender Scare (simultaneous with the Red Scare) began.
October 19, 1955—The Daughters of Bilitis is formed.
October 1956—The first issue of The Ladder is released by the Daughters of Bilitis.
May 1959—The first documented LGBTQ+ riot took place at Cooper’s Donuts, Los Angeles, CA.
April 17, 1963—The East Coast Homophile Organization (ECHO) picketed outside the White House protesting the U.S. government’s treatment of homosexuals.
April 18, 1963—ECHO picketed outside U.N. protesting Castro’s treatment of homosexuals.
April 25, 1965—Dewey’s Deli sit-in, Philadelphia, PA.
1966—Compton Cafeteria Riots, San Francisco, CA.
October 8, 1968—Troy Perry held the first service in what would become the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC).
June 28, 1969—Stonewall Uprising, Greenwich Village, New York City, NY
December 1969—The Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) is formed. In 1970, GAA secured its own building in SOHO, New York City, NY.
June 28, 1970—The Christopher Street Liberation Day march (precursor to Pride Marches to honor and remember the Stonewall Uprising) is held.
May 18, 1970—Jack Baker and Mike McConnell applied for a marriage license in Minneapolis, MN. It was the first challenge to same-sex marriage laws. They were denied.
1971—McConnell changed his name to Pat Lynn McConnell. A license was issued thinking McConnell was female. They were married, becoming the first same-sex couple married in the USA. The state of Minnesota chose to ignore the marriage rather than fight it.
March 11, 1973—The first meeting of what would become PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
December 1973—The leadership of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) voted unanimously to remove homosexuality from the organization’s list of disorders.
April 1, 1974—Ann Arbor, MI citizens elected Kathy Kozachenko to the city council. She was the first openly gay person elected to public office in the USA.
1974—Voters in Massachusetts sent Elaine Noble to the state senate. She was the first openly gay person elected to statewide office.
1976—The Gay Rights National Lobby (later the Human Rights Campaign) was formed in Washington, D. C.
January 18, 1977—Dade County, Florida passed a civil rights ordinance.
June 7, 1977—Led by Anita Bryant, the Dade County ordinance is overturned.
March 26, 1977—Members of President Jimmy Carter’s administration met with a delegation of gays and lesbians. This was the first such meeting ever in the White House.
November 8, 1977—Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
April 1978—Mayor George Moscone signed a San Francisco gay rights ordinance.
June 25, 1978—The Rainbow or Pride Flag, designed by Gilbert Baker, flew for the first time in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
November 1978—Proposition 6 was defeated in California.
November 27, 1978—Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated.
October 14, 1979—The first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
July 3, 1981—A story appeared in the New York Times about a rare cancer found in homosexual men.
1982—Wisconsin was the first state to pass a law banning lesbian and gay discrimination.
December 1984—Berkley, CA became the first city to offer domestic partner benefits.
November 27, 1985—Cleve Jones had the idea for a quilt to remember those who died of AIDS.
June 30, 1986—In Bowers vs. Hardwick, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled lesbians and gays had no constitutional rights in their private, personal lives.
March 12, 1987—Larry Kramer formed ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power).
October 11, 1983—The NAMES Quilt was displayed on the National Mall for the first time.
1993—Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, an initiative of President Bill Clinton, was passed into law.
September 21, 1996—The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was passed and then was signed by President Bill Clinton. It defined marriage as being between a man and woman. States followed with their own DOMA laws.
October 12, 1998—Matthew Shepard was murdered. His was one victim of a growing number of hate crimes against members of the LGBTQ community.
July 1, 2000—Civil Unions began in Vermont.
June 26, 2003—In Lawrence vs. Texas the United States Supreme Court ruled homosexuals’ privacy is constitutionally protected.
November 18, 2003—The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to marry.
May 17, 2004—752 same-sex couples are wed in in Massachusetts.
February 12, 2004—After a ruling by San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin received the first same-sex marriage license in California and were married. Others followed. Twenty-nine days later, a judge ruled that marriages across the state be halted.
August 12, 2004—The California Supreme Court ruled all same-sex marriages were invalid.
August 30, 2007—Iowa Judge Robert Hanson declared the state ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
May 15, 2008—The California Supreme Court ruled the state’s ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional.
June 16, 2008—Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin again are the first same-sex couple married in California.
November 2008—Prop 8 passed in California. Same-sex marriages were halted and the rights of same-sex married couples were taken away.
Spring 2009—John Berry, an openly-gay man, was appointed by President Barack Obama as director of the Office of Personnel Management.
April 2009—Vermont legislators passed a marriage equality bill. That state was followed by Connecticut, New Hampshire, and the District of Columbia.
October 28, 2009—President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.
August 8, 2010—Judge Vaughn Walker ruled California’s Prop 8 was unconstitutional. The decision was immediately appealed.
September 9, 2010—Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was declared unconstitutional by a federal judge in California. Congress repealed the law later that year.
July 24, 2011—New York began same-sex marriages.
2011—Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared, “Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights.”
March 27, 2013—The Supreme Court of the United States heard Edith Windsor’s case against the Defense of Marriage Act.
2013—Three more state legislatures voted for same-sex marriage: Rhode Island, Delaware, and Minnesota.
June 26, 2013—The Supreme Court of the United States struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. Two days later, marriages resumed in California.
September 27, 2013—New Jersey was the first state where the ban on same-sex marriage fell. Other states followed.
June 26, 2015—The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that same-sex couples have the right to be married.
June 24, 2016—President Barack Obama declared the Stonewall Inn a nation monument making it America’s first LGBT national park site.
June 30, 2016— Under President Barack Obama, the ban on transgender service in the military is lifted.
July 27, 2017—Under President Donald Trump, the Justice Department declared that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect workers on the basis of sexual orientation.
July 27, 2017—President Donald Trump tweeted that he would ban transgender people from military service.
August 2018—Federal judges rule against Baltimore and Washington blocked Trumps order.
January 1, 2018—The Defense Department began to accept open transgender recruits.
Source: Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-long Struggle for LGBT Rights by Jerome Pohlen. Chicago Review Press, Chicago, IL: 2016.
LGBTTTQQIA
(Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Two-spirited, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Ally)
LGBTQ+
REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE
April 27—Day of Silence (date varies from year-to-year)
https://www.glsen.org/day-of-silence
May 17—International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia: A Worldwide Celebration of Sexual and Gender Diversity
http://dayagainsthomophobia.org
May 22—Harvey Milk Day
http://harveymilkday.co//about
June—LGBT Pride Month
http://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/
June 27—Stonewall Uprising Anniversary
October—LGBT History Month
https://lgbthistorymonth.com/
October 11—National Coming Out Day
http://www.hrc.org/resources/national-coming-out-day
October 26—Intersex Awareness Day
https://interactadvocates.org/
November 8—Intersex Day of Remembrance/Intersex Solidarity Day
http://www.intersexequality.com/honoring-the-intersex-day-of-remembrance/
November 20—Transgender Day of Remembrance
https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/transgender-day-remembrance
December 1—World AIDS Day
http://www.worldaidsday.org
OTHER OBSERVANCES
Banned Books Week—Annually the last week of September
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/
World Read Aloud Day—Usually in February
https://www.litworld.org/wrad/
SOME CHILDREN’S BOOKS WITH LGBTQ+ THEMES
AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS
LGBTQ+ History
A Name on the Quilt: A Story of Remembrance
By Jeannine Atkins
Illustrated by Tad Hills
Simon & Schuster, 1999
This Day in June
By Gayle E. Pitman
Illustrated by Kristyna Litten
Magination, 2014
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag
By Rob Sanders
Illustrated by Steven Salerno
Random House, 2018
Sewing the Rainbow
By Gayle E. Pitman
Illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown
Magination, 2018
Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
By Rob Sanders
Illustrated by Jamey Christoph
Random House, 2019
When You Look Out the Window: How Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin Built a Community
By Gayle E. Pitman
Illustrated by Christopher Lyles
Magination, 2017
Same-Sex Relationships
The Adventures of Honey & Leon
By Alan Cumming
Illustrated by Grant Shaffer
Random House, 2017
And Tango Makes Three
By Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by Henry Cole
Simon & Schuster, 2005
Christian, the Hugging Lion
By Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Illustrated by Amy June Bates
Simon & Schuster, 2010
Jerome By Heart
By Thomas Scotto
Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Illustrated by Olivier Tallec
Enchanted Lion, 2018
King & King
By Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland
Tricycle, 2000
Promised Land
By Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris
Illustrated by Christine Luiten and Bo Moore
Amazon Digital Services, 2017
Square Zair Pair
By Jase Peeples
Illustrated by Christine Knopp
Jason Peeples, 2015
Worm Loves Worm
By J. J. Austrian
Illustrated by Mike Curato
Balzer + Bray, 2016
Families/Living with Two Moms or Two Dads
Daddy, Papa, and Me
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Carol Thompson
Tricycle, 2009
Donovan’s Big Day
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Mike Dutton
Tricycle, 2011
A Family Is a Family Is a Family
By Sara O’Leary
Illustrated by Qin Leng
Groundwood, 2016
The Great Big Book of Families
By Mary Hoffman
Illustrated by Ros Asquith
Dial, 2010
Heather Has Two Mommies
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Laura Cornell
Candlewick, 2015
In Our Mothers’ House
By Patricia Polacco
Philomel, 2009
Mommy, Mama, and Me
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Carol Thompson
Tricycle, 2009
A Tale of Two Daddies
By Vanita Oelschlager
Illustrated by Kristin Blackwood and Mike Blanc
VanitaBooks, 2010
A Tale of Two Mommies
By Vanita Oelschlager
Illustrated by Mike Blanc
VanitaBooks, 2011
Gender/Gender Identity/Transgender
Annie’s Plaid Shirt
By Stacy B. Davids
Illustrated by Rachael Balsaitis
Upswing, 2015
Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?
By Sarah Savage
Illustrated by Fox Fisher
Jessica Kingsley, 2017
Call Me Tree / Llámame árbol
By Maya Christina Gonzalez
Children’s Book Press, 2014
From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea
By Kai Cheng Thom
Illustrated by Wai-Yant Li and Kai Yun Ching
Arsenal Pulp Press, 2017
I Am Jazz
By Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
Illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
Dial, 2014
Jacob’s New Dress
By Sarah and Ian Hoffman
Illustrated by Chris Case
Albert Whitman, 2014
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress
By Christine Baldacchino
Illustrated by Isabelle Malenfant
Groundwood, 2014
My Princess Boy: A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up
By Cheryl Kilodavis
Illustrated by Suzanne DeSimone
Aladdin, 2010
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero
By Marissa Moss
Illustrated by John Hendrix
Abrams, 2011
Oliver Button Is a Sissy
By Tomie dePaola
Simon & Schuster, 1979
Red: A Crayon’s Story
By Michael Hall
Greenwillow, 2015
Sparkle Boy
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Maria Mola
Lee & Low, 2017
10,000 Dresses
By Marcus Ewert
Illustrated by Rex Ray
Seven Stories, 2008
Who Are You? The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity
By Brook Pessin-Whedbee
Illustrated by Naomi Bardoff
Jessica Kingsley, 2016
Celebrating Individuality
Be Who You Are
By Todd Parr
Little, Brown Books, 2016
Bertolt
By Jacques Goldstyn
Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Enchanted Lion, 2017
The Blue Songbird
By Vern Kousky
Running Press Kids, 2017
The Boy Who Cried Fabulous
By Lesléa Newman
Illustrated by Peter Ferguson
Tricycle, 2004
The Boy with Pink Hair
By Perez Hilton
Illustrated by Jen Hill
Celebra Young Readers, 2011
Feather
By Rémi Courgeon
Translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick
Enchanted Lion, 2017
It’s Okay to Be Different
By Todd Parr
Megan Tingley, 2001
Julián Is a Mermaid
By Jessica Love
Candlewick, 2018
A Peacock Among Pigeons
By Tyler Curry
Illustrated by Clarione Gutierrez
Mascot, 2015
Pink Is for Boys
By Robb Pearlman
Illustrated by Eda Kaban
Running Press Kids, 2018
The Sissy Duckling
By Harvey Fierstein
Illustrated by Henry Cole
Simon & Schuster, 2002
Why Am I Me?
By Paige Britt
Illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko
Scholastic, 2017
Sex and Sexuality
Tell Me About Sex, Grandma
By Anastasia Higginbotham
Feminist Press, 2017
Living Peacefully with Others
Come with Me
By Holly M. McGhee
Illustrated by Pascal Lemaître
G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth
By Oliver Jeffers
Philomel, 2017
Peace Is an Offering
By Annette LeBox
Illustrated by Stephanie Graegin
Dial, 2015
Protest Literature
Feminism from A to Z
By Gayle E. Pitman
Illustrated by Laura Huliska Beith
Magination Press, 2017
The Little Book of Little Activists
Viking, 2017
Peaceful Fights for Equal Rights
By Rob Sanders
Illustrated by Jared Andrew Schorr
Simon & Schuster, 2018
The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!
By Carmen Agra Deedy
Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Scholastic, 2017
Other Resources for Teachers
“Censorship,” The Active Voice (blog)
By Gayle E. Pitman
gaylepitman.com/Censorship.html
Gay & Lesbian History for Kids: The Century-Long Struggle for LGBT Rights
By Jerome Pohlen
Chicago Review Press, 2016
Growing Up LGBT in America
Human Rights Campaign
hrc.org/youth-report/view-and-share-statistics
Intellectual Freedom: Issues and Resources
American Library Association
ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom
“LGBT+ 101: An Introduction to the Queer Community”
youtube.com/watch?v=DE7bKmOXY3w
“LGBTQ OutLoud Common Terms”
youtube.com/watch?v=jYEnuBbw4Ag
“Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”
By Rudine Sims Bishop
The 2015 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation’s Schools
By Joseph G. Kosciw et al.
GLSEN, 2015
“The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf” (TEDx Talk)
By Grace Lin
youtube.com/watch?v=_wQ8wiV3FVo
Helpful Sites
ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union): aclu.org
GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network): glsen.org
HRC (Human Rights Campaign): hrc.org
PFLAG: pflag.org
