Amy Spalding’s second book in the “Out in Hollywood” series centers on Max, a wee masc lesbian in Hollywood roped into a self-actualization scheme by her influencer roommate and most importantly to me, playing a lot of lesbian kickball.

We Were the Universe eschews the conventional grief novel in its horniness, the conventional motherhood novel in its queerness, and even the conventional sex novel in its emphasis on fantasy over reality.

The book can help us understand the sensual relationship between food and sex in Je Tu Il Elle and in other forms of LGBTQ art, media, and cultural production.

I hope this means there will be more trad pubs looking to publish Black sapphic stories, because my bookshelf is ready.

Their romance also encapsulates the protagonist figuring out she’s a top, a journey I always love to see!

It’s beautifully constructed from start to finish, and while the stories will get under your skin, it’s a welcome invasion.

Trans activist and historian Kit Heyam’s new book Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender examines gender nonconformity throughout history.

I didn’t know this book at all until a few months ago. I borrowed it thinking it’d be hilarious to read in public spaces and have people give me questionable stares. That mentality was replaced by the desire to build bridges.

“I learned to accept that I contain multitudes, and neither my sexual orientation nor gender identity are exempt from my multifaceted nature.”

“The truth is I don’t know how to review Detransition, Baby. Torrey was too successful in what she set out to accomplish. If trans women have been and remain her primary audience then I, a trans woman, don’t know what to say from a place of supposed objectivity. The fact that this is not a PDF free on her website but a hardcover book garnering an immense amount of buzz fills me with a joy I can explain and a terror I cannot.”

“When I was writing these women and their mothers, I wanted to show that these are individuals.”

“I wish I had these books when I was 15. I needed permission. I needed somebody to tell me, ‘You’re ok.’ If I had had one place to go, one book in my hand, known one person, I could have avoided a lot of trouble.”

Autostraddle recently spoke with Tina Horn via video call to chat about the first volume of SFSX, her myriad influences, building community around art, the sex worker rights’ movement, and incels.

A. Andrews’ comic A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex and Disability is a well-written, thoughtful, and enjoyable guide that I strongly recommend to all disabled and able-bodied people alike

The book deftly acknowledges that each of its five main characters is different in their experience of their bodies, sexualities, genders, romantic interests, and overall development. It allows each kid to define their experience on their own terms and shows a little of their process of becoming comfortable with their unique selves, while promoting kind and thoughtful behavior toward all peers.

It’s hard to overstate how much I loved this book and how much I think you will, too.

“Bury the Lede” follows the familiar, even classic format that makes a hard-boiled detective story work, but Dunn takes that wireframe and expands upon it to make something unique.

Along with the Civil Rights Movement, the blues, and the Moon Pie, we also have the American South to thank for a 50-plus year bounty of lesbian literature.

“I’ve had conversations with brands where they’ve been very explicit about who their customers weren’t. They weren’t plus size people. They weren’t queer people. They weren’t people of color. And those attitudes affect me as well as a black, queer woman.”

“Close your eyes and imagine for one moment a world where little black girls spend their entire childhoods seeing women like the ones they will become in just as many books, television shows, awards ceremonies, universities, political offices, magazines, advertisements and leadership positions as their white peers do. Really picture it, and then ask yourself: what would that future look like?”