Coming of age gay novels
A history of LGBTQ coming-of-age fiction (in 15 books)
Let's start by saying this: it’s basically impossible to condense the entire history of LGBTQ YA into 15 books. It’s favor trying to squash all your stuff into a suitcase before going on holiday – no matter how much you skimp and scrunch, and even sit on top of your battered old wheely number to try and zip it up, you inevitably end up having to leave out some really good stuff.
The YA, coming-of-age genre has such an amazing history of exploring love stories and relationships of all kinds, and pioneering new voices and styles, that it’s totally unsurprising that it’s been a major trailblazer in bringing a whole range of LGBTQ books to the fore and changing the landscape of LGBTQ literature across all genres and ages.
Stephen Chbosky’s coming-of-age classic, The Perks of Being a Wallflower consistently appears on the American Library Association’s list of Top 10 Most-Challenged Books. It’s an epistolary novel (a book-in-letters), from the point of view of “wallflower” Charlie, whose friend Patrick is gay – a
12 Must-Read Coming-of-Age LGBT Novels
Though one could create the case that gay literature dates back to centuries B.C.—the moment Homer wrote of Achilles and Patroclus and the “union of their thighs”—you’d be hard-pressed to find a book about a teen who identifies as an LGBT individual. Until now.
Over the last few decades, there has been an uptick in coming-of-age stories starring homosexual protagonists, both on the page and on the screen. Finally, these stories are being given a voice and their much-deserved due.
And estimate what! You don’t verb to be gay to enjoy gay literature! Whether you're simply wanting to look beyond your hold experience, or you're an LGBT youth seeking a character like yourself, the following classic and contemporary coming-of-age LGBT novels chronicle the road to first loves, acceptance, and self-discovery. And that’s something everyone can relate to.
Related: LGBT Authors to Read Year-Round
Dive
By Stacey Donovan
Teenager Virginia “V” Dunn is down on her luck. Her beloved canine, Lucky, was hit by a car; her optimal friend is avoiding
13 New Queer Novels We Cant Wait to Interpret in
Like Happiness is a stunning coming-of-age debut novel that delves into gender, sexual orientation, racial identity, and the charged power dynamics of fame. In the novel, author Ursula Villarreal-Moura uses dual timelines to tell the story of Tatum Vega, a woman who years ago shared a destructive relationship with a celebrated author named M. Domínguez. In the present timeline of , Tatum lives in Chile with her partner Vera and works at a museum in a job that she loves. Her fraught days in New York with M. Domínguez are lengthy behind her. That is, until she gets a call from a reporter asking for an interview, as Domínguez has been accused of sexual assault. In an instant, Tatum’s former life comes flashing back, along with a series of pointed questions: What really happened between her and Domínguez all those years ago? As Tatum grapples with adj truths in the offer, the second timeline, told through a letter Tatum writes to Domínguez, takes us back to the decade she spent in New York City and the complex, destructive relationsh
I don’t believe in the idea of guilty pleasures. I even used to run a pop culture blog centered around the fact that they shouldn’t be a thing—we should never have to experience guilty about something that brings us pleasure. Growing up queer, it can be really easy to be made to sense guilty about what you might secretly love, because it might not fit the rigid yet opposing gender norms you never really adhered to. Therefore, it can also verb a long time for you to feel easy enjoying what you adore without shame or ridicule—from other people or from yourself. Internalized homophobia at its finest!
As a teenager, I rarely felt comfortable reading YA books, let alone gay YA books, because I felt so disconnected and rejected by my age group—having never really shared the same interests or ideals of people my retain age, and often being bullied for it—that I did anything I could to subtly and hush set myself apart from kids my age. Adults called me an vintage soul, which I was, but I also didn’t feel free to reside my own life, and I faced the consequences of acting more grown up tha