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6 books written by LGBTQ+ authors you should add to your reading list this Pride Month and beyond

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Photo by Radu Marcusu on Unsplash
Photo by Radu Marcusu on Unsplash
  • June is international Pride Month, where the global LGBTQ+ community celebrates their respective identities and freedom to be comfortable in their sexualities. 
  • Whether you're still figuring it out or secure in your identity, this month is a chance to feel seen and heard - from documentaries and films, to books.
  • This is a short list of books written by authors of the LGBTQ+ community about their personal experiences. 

Whether you're interested in educating yourself further or simply finding a good book about narratives that aren't often amplified, you might enjoy a few of these recommendations. 

Once a Girl, Always a Boy by Jo Ivester

Although she's not an LGBTQ+ author, Jo's book is listed here for the important perspective it shares. Jo chronicles her son’s transition from female to male through her childhood and adulthood. 

Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito

Cameron, a queer stand-up comic and actress recounts her experience growing up gay in a devout Catholic home. 

Untamed by Glennon Doyle

This memoir tells the story of how the motivational speaker divorced her husband, came out to her family and found love with Olympic soccer player, Abby Wambach. 

READ MORE: #PrideMonth - Genderqueer, skoliosexual or homoromantic - what does it all mean?   

Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Real Life tells the story of introverted, gay, black graduate student Wallace, as he navigates a Midwestern university consumed by racism and homophobia.

Good Boy: My Life in seven Dogs by Jennifer Finney Boylan

Jennifer, a columnist at The New York Times, wrote this memoir about her gender transition while sharing her life with seven different dogs who were at her side at pivotal moments in her life. “Everything I know about love I learnt from dogs,” she writes in Good Boy.

EDITOR'S PICK: 

You Have to Be Gay to Know God by Siya Khumalo

Drawing on personal experience - his childhood, life in the army, attending church, and competing in pageants - Siya Khumalo explores being LGBTQ+ in South Africa today. In this book, he takes us on a daring journey, exposing the interrelatedness of religion, politics and sex as the expectations of African cultures mingle with greed and colonial religion. 

Available to order from Exclusive Books for R 282.00  

books to read during pride month

Do you have more recommendations? Share them with us here.

Compiled by Afika Jadezweni

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