Read it First: LGBTQIA Pride Month

Boy Erased is the memoir of Garrard Conley who, at 19, was forced to choose between being disowned by his family or undergoing gay conversion therapy aimed at “curing” his homosexuality. Conley’s testimony provides a stark and disturbing inside view of the dangers of ex-gay programs. The 2018 film adaptation starred Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe and can be checked out on DVD with your library card today. 

When Elio Perlman’s parents took in Oliver as their summer boarder, he was anticipating nothing more than the annoyance of having to give up his room for the season. But Oliver was so much more than that. What followed was a brief and intense love affair that would change Elio’s life forever. André Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name is a powerful novel of first love. The novel was adapted to film in 2017 and starred Timothy Chalamet and Armie Hammer. It is available to check out on DVD with your library card. 

Roughly based on the life of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in sexual reassignment surgery, The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff follows Einar Wegener, a painter in 1920's Copenhagen.  After agreeing to stand in for a female model for his wife's painting, Einar struggles with the feelings this exciting and, for the era, illicit act brings out in him. As he explores his growing sense of self, Einar discovers strength and peace in his new female identity as Lili. Ebershoff's moving tale is one of self discovery and love. The 2005 film adaptation starred Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe and was nominated for four Academy Awards. You can check out the DVD with your library card today. 

Disobedience by Naomi Alderman is an award-winning novel that shows the power our past has to disrupt our present. Ronit Krushka escaped the tight knit and all encompassing Orthodox Jewish community of her youth, but her father’s death draws her back home for one last visit. There she reunites with the childhood crush that forced her to turn away from the community many years before. Alderman’s powerful tale was adapted to film in 2017 and is available for checkout on DVD with your library card today.

A young orphan raised as a pickpocket, an elegant conman with a devious plot and a naive heiress with a hefty inheritance revolve around each other in Sarah Waters thrilling novel Fingersmith. Hired to help a conman seduce a wealthy heiress, Sue Trinder soon finds herself falling for the seemingly innocent Maud Lilly. But all is not as it seems. As alliances shift and secrets are revealed, Sue may find herself on the wrong end of the con. Based on Waters’ compelling novel, the critically acclaimed 2016 South Korean film The Handmaiden won the British Academy Film Award for Best Film Not in English. 

After her parents are killed in a car crash, Cameron is sent to live with her conservative aunt and grandmother in Montana. Though she desperately tries to suppress her burgeoning sexuality and remain invisible in this traditional community, she finds beautiful Coley Taylor impossible to ignore. When Cameron and Coley strike up a relationship, her aunt sends her away to God’s Promise, a gay re-education camp. There, Cameron must defy the camp counselors and her loved ones in order to remain true to herself. Emily Danforth’s powerful novel The Miseducation of Cameron Post was inspired by true events. You can stream the 2018 film adaptation starring Chloë Grace Moretz on Kanopy today! 

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith is the story of two women who discover in each other friendship, comfort and true love. When Therese and Carol meet they are both stuck in lives that don't fit, with people they don't love. In each other, they discover how much more life can offer. But their newfound happiness is threatened when Carol's estranged husband uses their relationship to threaten her custody of her daughter. How can a person choose between love and family? The 2015 film adaptation was released under the title Carol and starred Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. It was named the best LGBT film of all time by the British Film Institute and garnered six Oscar nominations.

After seeing an intriguing post on a local online secret message board, sixteen year old Simon begins an email correspondence with Blue, a local boy he knows only by his pen name. It is everything a crush should be—exciting, fun, scary and filled with possibility. But when his email flirtation gets into the wrong hands, Simon has to decide whether to let the school know his secret or give in to blackmail. Becky Albertalli’s debut novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda was awarded the William C. Morris Award, the German Youth Literature Prize and was listed as one of the Best Young Adult Novels of 2015 by the Wall Street Journal. The 2018 film adaptation was released under the title Love, Simon and starred Nick Robinson, Josh Duchamel and Jennifer Garner. 

Christopher Isherwood’s A Single Man portrays a day in the life of a middle-aged college professor as he grieves the recent death of his longtime partner. The 2009 film adaptation was directed by fashion designer Tom Ford and garnered star Colin Firth an Academy Award nomination. You can check out a copy on DVD with your library card today.