Queer Voices, Queer Stories: A Pride Collection

By Graham Lier and Ben Warner

Learn more about the LGBTQ+ community with hand-picked choices that include fiction and non-fiction as well as young adults and children’s choices. We hope you enjoy our picks; after you choose a great read, scroll to the bottom of the page to learn some local queer history.

Click the image to be directed to the book in our collection. Hover your mouse over the book cover image to read the description.

“Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality. David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni’s curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella’s return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy.
“Maurice” by E.M. Forster Maurice is heartbroken over unrequited love, which opened his heart and mind to his own sexual identity. In order to be true to himself, he goes against the grain of society’s often unspoken rules of class, wealth, and politics. Since its release in 1971, Maurice has been widely read and praised. It has been, and continues to be, adapted for major stage productions, including the 1987 Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Hugh Grant and James Wilby.
“The Price of Salt, or Carol” by Patricia Highsmith Arguably Patricia Highsmith’s finest, The Price of Salt, or Carol is the story of Therese Belivet, a stage designer trapped in a department-store day job, whose salvation arrives one day in the form of Carol Aird, an alluring suburban housewife in the throes of a divorce. They fall in love and set out across the United States, pursued by a private investigator who eventually blackmails Carol into a choice between her daughter and her lover. With this reissue, The Price of Salt, or Carol may finally be recognized as a major twentieth-century American novel.
“Under the Udala Trees” by Chinelo Okparanta Inspired by Nigeria’s folktales and its war, Under the Udala Trees is a deeply searching, powerful debut about the dangers of living and loving openly. Ijeoma comes of age as her nation does; born before independence, she is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they, star-crossed, fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.
“The Inheritance” by Matthew Lopez You have to wonder why there isn’t a word in the English language for the fireworks that go off in your brain when you finally kiss someone you’ve wanted for years. Or for the intimacy and tenderness you feel as you hold the hand of a suffering friend. A generation after the height of the AIDS crisis, what is it like to be a young gay man in New York? How many words are there now for the different kinds of pain, the different kinds of love? Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance premiered in two parts at the Young Vic Theatre, London, in March 2018, and on Broadway, Oct. 2019.
“The Third Person” by Emma Grove In the winter of 2004, a shy woman named Emma sits in Toby’s office. She wants to share this wonderful new book she’s reading, but Toby, her therapist, is concerned with other things. Emma is transgender, and has sought out Toby for approval for hormone replacement therapy. Emma has shown up at the therapy sessions as an outgoing, confident young woman named Katina, and a depressed, submissive workaholic named Ed. As the story of her childhood unfolds, we discover clues to Emma’s troubled past and how and why these other two people may have come into existence.
Maggie Nelson’s “The Argonauts” is a genre-bending memoir, a work of “autotheory” offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. At its center is a romance: the story of the author’s relationship with the artist Harry Dodge. This story, which includes Nelson’s account of falling in love with Dodge, who is fluidly gendered, as well as her journey to and through a pregnancy, offers a firsthand account of the complexities and joys of (queer) family-making.Nelson’s insistence on radical individual freedom and the value of caretaking becomes the rallying cry of this thoughtful, unabashed, uncompromising book.
“Transgender History” by Susan Stryker Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-’70s to 1990-the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the ’90s and ’00s.
“The Chronology of Water” by Lidia Yuknavitch This is not your mother’s memoir. In The Chronology of Water, Lidia Yuknavitch expertly moves the reader through issues of gender, sexuality, violence, and the family from the point of view of a lifelong swimmer turned artist. In writing that explores the nature of memoir itself, her story traces the effect of extreme grief on a young woman’s developing sexuality that some define as untraditional because of her attraction to both men and women. Her emergence as a writer evolves at the same time and takes the narrator on a journey of addiction, self-destruction, and ultimately survival that finally comes in the shape of love and motherhood.
“Fine” by Rhea Ewing A vibrant and informative debut with “great documentary power”, Fine is an elegantly illustrated celebration of the transgender community. As graphic artist Rhea Ewing neared college graduation in 2012, they became consumed by the question, “What is gender?” This obsession sparked a quest in which they eagerly approached both friends and strangers in their quiet Midwest town for interviews to turn into comics. A decade later, this project exploded into a sweeping portrait of the intricacies of gender expression with interviewees from all over the country.
“Born Both, An Intersex Life” by Hida Viloria (From the Author) Unlike most people in the first world who are born intersex–meaning they have genitals, reproductive organs, hormones, and/or chromosomal patterns that do not fit standard definitions of male or female–I grew up in the body I was born with because my parents did not have my sex characteristics surgically altered at birth. It wasn’t until I was twenty-six and encountered the term intersex in a San Francisco newspaper that I finally had a name for my difference. Born Both is the story of my lifelong journey toward finding love and embracing my authentic identity in a world that insists on categorizing people into either/or, and of my decades-long fight for human rights and equality for intersex people everywhere.
“Loveless” by Alice Oseman Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever. Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along?
“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe” by Benjamin Alier Saenz . Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari’s features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself. But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be.
“On a Sunbeam” by Tillie Walden Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love. An inventive world, a breathtaking love story, and stunning art come together in this new work by award-winning artist Tillie Walden.
“The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men. But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. When one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.
“The Whispers” by Greg Howard Eleven-year-old Riley believes in the whispers, magical fairies that will grant you wishes if you leave them tributes. Riley wishes bullies at school would stop picking on him. He wishes Dylan, his 8th grade crush, liked him, and Riley wishes he would stop wetting the bed. But most of all, Riley wishes for his mom to come back home. Frustrated with the lack of progress in the investigation, Riley decides to take matters into his own hands. So he goes on a camping trip with his friend Gary to find the whispers and ask them to bring his mom back home. But Riley doesn’t realize the trip will shake the foundation of everything that he believes in forever.
Kat Leyh’s “Snapdragon” is a magical realist graphic novel about a young girl who befriends her town’s witch and discovers the strange magic within herself. Snap’s town had a witch. At least, that’s how the rumor goes. But in reality, Jacks is just a Crocs-wearing, internet-savvy old lady who sells roadkill skeletons online. It’s creepy, sure, but Snap thinks it’s kind of cool, too. Snap needs a favor from this old woman, though, so she begins helping Jacks with her strange work. Snap gets to know her and realizes that Jacks may in fact have real magic—and an unlikely connection to Snap’s family’s past.
“The Deep & Dark Blue” by Niki Smith After a terrible political coup usurps their noble house, Hawke and Grayson flee to stay alive and assume new identities, Hanna and Grayce. Desperation and chance lead them to the Communion of Blue, an order of magical women who spin the threads of reality to their will. As the twins learn more about the Communion, and themselves, they begin to hatch a plan to avenge their family and retake their royal home. While Hawke wants to return to his old life, Grayce struggles to keep the threads of her new life from unraveling, and realizes she wants to stay in the one place that will allow her to finally live as a girl.

Local Queer Voices and Stories

By Annaclaire Crumpton, Digital Communications Specialist

With the help of information and history sourced from the Queer Memory Project of Northern Colorado, the Library has collected stories of important historical places, people, or events relevant to the LGBTQ+ community here in Fort Collins. Read on to learn about queer history in our area.

Queer Bars and Spaces in Fort Collins

The Sagebrush Bar and Restaurant opened in 1983 and is the first known gay and lesbian bar in Fort Collins history. Despite challenges from segments of the Fort Collins community, the bar garnered large support from the gay and lesbian community and won unanimous support from the City Liquor Authority. The bar opened at 943 South Lemay Avenue and became a community gathering place for LGBTQ+ individuals. 2 years later, the People’s Bar opened, taking over the space of the Sagebrush Bar before it was damaged in a fire. The owners moved locations following the fire to a new bar called Nightingale’s.  In 1991, a gay man was beaten outside of Nightingale’s; the men who perpetrated the beating were never found or arrested. The incident is a defining moment of intolerance towards individuals in the LGBTQ+ community in Fort Collins.

Within the historical record in Fort Collins, there have been at least five different gay and lesbian bars, few of which existed at the same time. Information sourced from the Queer Memory Project of Northern Colorado

📸: Customers at R Bar, the only LGBTQ+ bar in Fort Collins, 2022, City of Fort Collins

Matthew Shepard

Matthew Shepard’s gruesome murder changed the nation and became a defining moment in U.S. history and the LGBTQ+ movement. Matthew, an openly gay freshman at the University of Wyoming, was assaulted, robbed, and left for dead after being tied to a wooden fence by two men in Laramie, Wyoming. He was found the next day and transported to Poudre Valley Hospital where he died five days later. The day after his death, over 600 CSU students, staff, and community members gathered at a candlelight vigil on CSU campus.

The many individuals who mourned Matthew’s death were in stark contrast to the actions of some members of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity at a CSU Homecoming parade; two days before his death, an effigy of Matthew with anti-gay slurs sat atop a parade float led by  the fraternity which had several members sanctioned following this homophobic and insensitive action. 

Matthew is interred in the Washington National Cathedral and was inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument in New York City’s Stonewall Inn (considered by many to be the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.) In 2007, after multiple failed attempts to include sexual orientation and gender identity as a motivation for a hate crime, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed by Congress.  #PrideMonth #LearnYourHistory

📸: The Matthew Shepard Project

black and white image of people protesting

Amendment 2, Colorado

In 1992, Colorado voters passed Amendment 2 which forbid local and municipal governments from protecting individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The vote was a rebuke to the cities of Aspen, Boulder, and Denver which had announced citywide policies outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Amendment was challenged in Denver District Court and eventually made its way to the Supreme Court in 1995. It became the first case in the nation to address antidiscrimination in regards to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Supreme Court ruled that the amendment violated the US Constitution. Twenty years later in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the fundamental right to marry is afforded to same-sex couples by the US Constitution. 

📸:Protests against Amendment 2, Denver Public Library

Joann Ginal

In 2012, Fort Collins elected Joann Ginal, a longtime resident and leader in the community to the Colorado State House. Ginal would become the first openly lesbian representative from Fort Collins to serve at a state level and played an integral role in the passing of Colorado’s Civil Union Act in 2013.

The law allowed civil union licenses to be distributed to same-sex in the state of Colorado and though the bill did not afford all the protections of a marriage license, this was a landmark in state history. Same-sex marriage was protected under the US Constitution by the landmark Supreme Court decision Obergefell v Hodges in 2015. 

Colorado State Representative Joann Ginal

Woman waving rainbow flag at Pride Parade

Fort Collins First Pride

When was the first Pride celebrated in Fort Collins? According to the Queer Memory Project of Northern Colorado, the first Pride took place in 1998 in a local park in Fort Collins and involved leading community organizations like PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) and NCAP (Northern Colorado AIDS Project.) In 2004, there was also a large Pride celebration at our own Library Park called “Pride in the Park.” The event was hosted by the Lambda Center, a former community Center for the LGBTQ+ community that opened in 1994 and closed in 2011. The 2004 Pride celebration was attended by over 500 people and is considered one of the largest events of its kind in Fort Collins. 

Have you learned something about queer history in Northern Colorado with our Pride Month campaign? Explore so much more information via the Queer Memory Project of Northern Colorado. 📸: Denver Pride, Denver Public Library