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It’s a easy reality, but it surely bears repeating: queer folks have all the time been right here. From historic occasions to the current day, folks representing each letter of the LGBTQ+ alphabet soup have lived, cherished, labored, performed — and, sure, confronted prejudice, hardship, and loss of life. But whereas tales of queer struggling and oppression are actually essential to keep in mind, we must also have the opportunity to take pleasure in tales about queer folks simply having fun with themselves and reaching a well-deserved happily-ever-after.
The comics beneath do each. Some are vivid, thrilling tales of discovered household, whereas others deal with the darker facet of residing in a society that doesn’t need you round. They span all totally different genres — memoir, horror, romance, and much more — and a number of centuries. As somebody who loves studying about each historical past and queer characters, it was nice enjoyable for me to discover all these superb titles that permit non-straight, non-cis people to star of their very personal historic adventures — and to do not forget that queer folks have all the time and can all the time have a spot in the actual world and the world of comics.
Because I like maintaining issues good and arranged, we’ll principally be entering into chronological order primarily based on when every story is about. But first, a bit of historical past lesson that covers a wider time interval…
Queer: A Graphic History by Dr. Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele
The phrase “queer” has had virtually as contentious and controversial historical past as queer folks themselves. This informative nonfiction comedian takes you thru the historical past of this all-important phrase, together with how its utilization and that means have developed from the nineteenth century to immediately.
Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman
Flor, higher generally known as Ghost Hawk, is a Wild West outlaw who robs stagecoaches. Grace is a trans lady attempting to escape her household by shifting out west to New Mexico. Together, they will be the solely ones who can cease a dastardly Confederate plot by stealing categorized paperwork!
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor
Mei, a teenage immigrant from China, works at a logging camp within the Western United States within the Eighteen Eighties — the place she additionally nurses a crush on Bee, the camp foreman’s daughter. Struggling to slot in as each a newcomer to America and a woman who likes ladies, Mei will use tales to find out how to join with others.
Parallel by Matthias Lehmann
Karl spent years attempting to dwell two lives: as a husband and father, and as a homosexual man in Germany the place his sexual needs had been unlawful. The outcomes have been disastrous, with his resentful daughter abandoning him in his previous age. He writes her a letter, hoping to reconnect and to inform her his harrowing life story earlier than it’s too late. Translated from German, Parallel explores how painful it’s to dwell a break up life, with the notoriously break up nation of East/West Germany as a backdrop.
Bingo Love by Tee Franklin, Jenn St Onge, and Joy San
The early Nineteen Sixties just isn’t the most secure time to be Black — or homosexual. Hazel and Mari discover this out the laborious means when their households discover out about their budding romance and enact a cold-hearted scheme to separate them ceaselessly. Decades later, by pure likelihood, the 2 reunite. Is there nonetheless time for them to rekindle their quashed romance?
Let Me Out by Emmett Nahil and George Williams (October 3, 2023)
As a transgender teen in Nineteen Seventies New Jersey, Mitchell’s life was already powerful. But when the Satanic Panic comes to city, courtesy of an unhinged preacher egged on by a sheriff and a authorities official with one thing to cover, he and his associates discover themselves hunted by bigots on the lookout for a scapegoat for the city’s latest troubles — and a terrifying supernatural pressure that’s out for blood.
Constellations by Kate Glasheen
When requested if they’re a boy or a woman, Claire’s greatest reply is “neither.” But that’s not what folks within the Nineteen Eighties need to hear, and Claire finally ends up turning to alcohol to escape the fixed harassment. In rehab, they get an opportunity to safely discover their identification for the primary time, however will they have the opportunity to apply these classes as soon as they return to the “real” world?
Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 by MK Czerwiec
In this poignant memoir, Czerwiec, a lesbian and a nurse working with AIDS sufferers within the Nineteen Nineties, appears to be like again on the folks — each sufferers and medical professionals — who made her profession so memorable. Her tales are sometimes as amusing as they’re touching, reminding us that we will discover humanity and kindness even within the worst circumstances.
For extra comics with queer characters, right here’s an amazing choice!
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