Quiz: Which Vintage Queer Classic From Yash’s Bookshelf Are You?

Lucky as we are to live during such a flourishing of contemporary LGBTQ+ literature, I still carry a torch for some of the classics from decades past. My little collection of vintage queer literature spans shelves, genres, and decades, so I pulled out a few favorites for you all with offerings from beloved queer/feminist presses like Naiad, Cleis, Firebrand, The Feminist Press, Alyson Books, and more! Plenty of these books are still very easy to find and affordable secondhand, and there’s so, so much more good literature where these came from. Which vintage queer classic are you? And are there any others you cherish that you think I should check out? Let me know in the comments!

What kind of gay are you?(Required)
What’s your queer superpower?(Required)
What’s your type?(Required)
You see someone at karaoke who catches your eye — how do you impress them?(Required)
Time for the first date, and you gotta step your game up. What’s your statement piece?(Required)
You and your boo had a misunderstanding; some feelings got hurt. How will you make it up to them?(Required)
What’s the name of the cringey secret playlist you’ve made about them?(Required)
They’re out with their friends, and you’re home alone chilling. What are you watching?(Required)

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Yashwina

Yashwina Canter is a reader, writer, and dyke putting down roots in Portland, Oregon. You can find her online at @yashwinacanter.

Yashwina has written 53 articles for us.

13 Comments

  1. You are “The Persistent Desire” .

    Nailed it.

    This truly represents my constant state of being.

    This was so good.

    “emotional support ex” Bwahh hahaha – wait.

  2. I am the Nancy Clue Mysteries! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of these!!

    I don’t know how you realised that being “gay, charming and mysterious, solving crimes and somehow just so adorable while doing it” is essentially my life goal.

  3. I audibly gasped when I saw this quiz. That is all. Ok, not all. Thank you for seeing that I am, in fact, the Nancy Clue Mysteries. I am off to buy a magnifying glass and the entire series.

    Thank you for making this!! Could we have the full list of books, please? <3

  4. I’m Paperback Romance by Karin Kallmaker

    And why yes, this is shockingly accurate – “you’re attentive, loving, and maybe just a liiiittle bit prone to pining from afar; but you’re just so irresistible that things can’t help but work out in your favor.”

    Thanks Yashwina! Karin Kallmaker is an author I hadn’t heard of until recently but now I notice her everywhere, so maybe it’s time for me to actually try one of her books. I do love a good, sweethearted sapphic romance.

  8. I got the The Persisent Desire, which I have never read! I have read and loved a more recent anthology that plays homage to it, though: Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edited by Zena Sharman and Ivan Coyote.

    As far as other queer classics, I have always been partial to S/He by Minnie Bruce Pratt, a poetry collection from 1995!

  9. Awwww! My lovely Autostraddle girls: you renew my faith in life every time I do one of these quizzes; they have always treated me well.

    Thank you😘. I’ve not read The Persistent Desire: Femme – Butch reader, but I will. And to be referred to as “Classically Subversive” is a gift, since I’ll be out on the streets with Non Una di Meno in Turin attempting to dismantle the patriarchy on March 8. 🌈🦄😊💜💜💜💜💜

    Frà

  10. NANCY CLUE!!! Omg, I remember getting poorly-scanned PDFs of this trilogy from someone in college thanks to some weird series of events that I can’t fully remember. Mabel Maney is aces and amazing at threading the fine line between pastiche and parody. It was my first exposure to old-school lesbian writing and I’m thrilled that I got this!

  11. I got “Paperback Romance”, which is hilarious because I actually think I have that one somewhere.

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