Reading for the First Day of Civil Unions

Today, Illinois finally begins offering Civil Unions to gay couples.  Personally, this is an issue I feel very strongly about.  Both as a happily married person and as someone who believes everyone deserves equal treatment under the law, I am ecstatic that homosexual couples can now be joined legally by a judge in my adopted home state.

To celebrate this day and the start of Gay Pride Month all over the country, I want to offer you some reading options.  Before I start however, I want to remind everyone out there that you don't have to be gay to read books by or about gay issues.  It is no different than me reading a book by a male author, or a non-Jew reading Philip Roth.  In fact, many of the authors I will list below are bestsellers in their own right and one particularly (David Leavitt) is one of my personal favorite authors.

So try one of the books I mention below or explore one of the resources I suggest, and help to celebrate the proliferation of equal rights.  Better late than never.

GLBTQ Authors Who Will Appeal to a Wide Audience:

• Michael Cunningham: start with The Hours
• David Leavitt: try The Lost Language of Cranes
• Ellen Hart: try the Jane Lawless mystery series which begins with Hallowed Murder
• Carol Anshaw: Aquamarine is a powerful, magical realism novel
• Michael Thomas Ford: try anything
• Mark Zubro: two gay mystery series set in the Chicago area-- the Paul Turner series and the Tom and Scott Mysteries
• E. Lynn Harris: try Invisible Life
• David Levithan: although it is YA, Boy Meets Boy is a great read for anyone 
• Alison Bechdel: Fun Home is one of my favorite graphic novels, ever

One of my favorite gay themed novels ever is the YA title, Hero by the recently deceased Perry Moore.  It is a superhero and gay coming out novel.  He saves the world AND gets the boy.

GLBTQ Reading Resources Worth Anyone's Time:

• I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell Do I Read?  This site has won many awards for its superior reviewing; it is also easy to navigate despite being filled with a ton of information
• The Lambda Literary Foundation is THE leading resource for LGBT reviews, author interviews, and opinions.  Click here for their extensively compiled list of literary links.
• Women and Children First is an awesome Chicago independent book store with a Lesbian slant,; however.  I personally patronize both the store and the website.
• Our fearless leader at the BPL RA desk, Kathy,  used to work for another well regarded independent book store geared toward a gay audience, Unabridged Bookstore. 

Finally, I want to highlight Berwyn's local gay rights organization, BUNGALO. Its members are HUGE BPL suporters both with their time and their money, and they have been supporting us for many, many years.  Thank you.