 | Meet Our Contributor: Roy Edward Jackson is an assistant professor of education at Goshen College in Indiana with a focus on literacy. He holds degrees in English, Education and School Library Science. |
Resisting Erasure: Celebrating LGBTQ+ Legacies Through
Nonfiction Books for Young Readers
by Roy Edward Jackson
We are living in precarious times as LGBTQ+ people in 2025. Earlier this year, the Stonewall National Monument website removed two crucial letters representing our community. It now states that, “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal, but the events at the Stonewall Inn sparked fresh momentum for the LGB civil rights movement!” Despite the fact that queer and transgender individuals were central activists in the Stonewall uprising, their identities have been erased from this official governmental narrative. This erasure extends beyond symbolic language. Just this month, Harvey Milk’s name was stripped from the U.S. Navy ship USNS Harvey Milk — a move that disregards his legacy as both a Navy veteran and a pioneering LGBTQ+ civil rights leader. Meanwhile, the military’s transgender ban remains firmly in place, further marginalizing trans service members and reinforcing a pattern of exclusion. These actions reveal a troubling trend of erasing and undermining the full scope of the LGBTQ+ community’s history and contributions. In the face of these setbacks, it is more important than ever to resist, remember, and reclaim our rightful place in history and society. One way to do that is through books and education. I agree with the criticism that African American history is often confined to just February, when it should be fully integrated throughout all history education. Similarly, because Pride Month in June frequently falls outside the school year, LGBTQ+ history is often overlooked or excluded from educational settings. The following books, aimed at young readers, provide a valuable starting point to begin addressing this gap.
 | A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronski, adapted by Richie Chevat, offers a comprehensive and engaging examination of biographical narratives and historical sketches that begin long before the founding of the United States. While some entries feature well-known figures like Walt Whitman and Jane Addams, many will be new to readers of all ages, including trailblazers such as Gladys Bentley and Gloria Anzaldúa. The chapter on Harvey Milk thoughtfully contextualizes his activism by including the story of Robert Hillsborough’s murder in San Francisco around the same time. With its intersectional exploration of race, law, immigration, and gender alongside LGBTQ+ identities, this book is a powerful and essential tool for teaching and understanding queer history. |
| Gay America: Struggle for Equality by Linas Alsenas is a compelling nonfiction history book for young readers that traces the experiences of gay and lesbian Americans from the mid-1800s to the early 2000s. Organized chronologically, the book moves through key historical periods such as the Roaring Twenties, the McCarthy era, the rise of the gay rights movement, the AIDS crisis, and the push for marriage equality. Each chapter begins with a short, fictionalized scene that helps readers connect emotionally to the time period before shifting into a factual account. Rich with archival photographs and written in an accessible tone, the book offers a broad but thoughtful overview of the struggles and triumphs of LGBTQ+ individuals in many facets of American life from the arts, to military, and social activism for equal rights. While its focus is primarily on gay and lesbian history, it provides an important and engaging entry point into queer history for middle and high school audiences. |  |
 | The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World by Mason Funk takes a different approach than the previous two books. Instead of a chronological timeline of events and persons, Funk categorizes profiles of individuals by themes including integrity, disrupters, and survival. The seventy stories reflect a wide range of voices across race, gender, age, and geography, and are paired with striking black-and-white portraits. Drawn from the OUTWORDS Archive, the book features both well-known and overlooked figures who share their personal struggles, victories, and ongoing efforts for justice. It’s an inspiring tribute to the courage and resilience that continues to drive the LGBTQ+ movement forward. |
| With the Covid Pandemic still resonating in our lives today, The Other Pandemic: An AIDS Memoir by Lynn Curlee offers a deeply personal and powerful account of another pandemic, the AIDS crisis through the lens of his own experiences. Blending memoir with history, Curlee recounts the impact of the epidemic on individuals and communities, highlighting both the devastating losses and the resilience of those affected. The book weaves together stories of love, grief, activism, and hope, providing young readers with an accessible and emotional understanding of this pivotal chapter in LGBTQ+ history. With vivid storytelling and heartfelt reflection, The Other Pandemic serves as an important resource during Pride Month and beyond, helping readers connect with the human stories behind the statistics and appreciate the ongoing legacy of the AIDS epidemic. This message is especially urgent as government funding for AIDS research declines and the Secretary of Health has publicly questioned the link between HIV and AIDS. |  |
 | George M. Johnson, acclaimed author of All Boys Aren’t Blue, returns with another powerful book for young readers: Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known. This richly illustrated work offers a compelling exploration of the intersection of race and queerness, shedding light on the often-overlooked contributions of Black LGBTQ+ figures during the Harlem Renaissance. With stunning artwork by Charly Palmer, Johnson blends personal reflection and poetry with historical profiles of influential Black Americans—many of whom were not publicly out in their time. Through these narratives, Johnson reveals how each figure left behind a legacy and a roadmap for future queer artists. In doing so, the book helps fill critical gaps in our understanding of both Black and queer history. |
| As a sports player and fan, I was thrilled to find many books at my local library for young readers profiling LGBTQ+ athletes and the role that sports have long played on the frontline for equal rights in this country. LGBTQ+ Athletes Claim the Field: Striving for Equality by Kristin Cronn-Mills weaves together historical legal precedent and powerful personal narratives. She examines not only the individual struggles and triumphs of athletes but also the legal and societal forces that have shaped their experiences. From the financial fallout Billie Jean King faced in the early 1980s after being publicly outed, to the evolving public attitudes and legal battles surrounding transgender athletes, Cronn-Mills provides a nuanced view of the intersection between identity, sports, and justice. Through a mix of biography, legal history, and cultural analysis, the book highlights how LGBTQ+ athletes have challenged exclusion and discrimination while paving the way for greater inclusion on and off the field. It’s an essential read for understanding the ongoing fight for equality in the world of sports. |  |
 | Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports by Cyd Zeigler offers a nuanced and necessary portrait of queer athletes that challenges long-held stereotypes. Rather than focusing on the sports typically associated with LGBTQ+ representation, Zeigler highlights athletes competing at the highest levels of the NFL, WNBA, and MMA. What makes the book especially compelling is Zeigler’s decision to include not only the voices of the athletes themselves but also those of dissenting teammates and critics, providing a realistic picture of the ongoing struggle for acceptance. By avoiding overly simplistic narratives, Fair Play underscores that while progress has been made, the fight for true inclusion in sports is far from over. |
The collections featured in this post offer something urgently needed in this current era of erasure: the written and preserved history of LGBTQ+ Americans. Schools have long done a poor job of teaching this history, in part because Pride Month takes place in June—during summer break—when most classrooms are empty and curricula have ended. As a result, LGBTQ+ contributions are often sidelined or ignored entirely. At the same time, educational legislation in many states restricts how gender and sexuality can be discussed, and public libraries in some communities are facing backlash and funding cuts simply for shelving books like these in their YA sections. These works stand as acts of resistance, ensuring that queer voices, stories, and histories are not only remembered but made visible and accessible for the next generation.
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