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LGBTQIA is an inclusive term that describes a range of sexual orientations and gender identities. It might be the reader who identifies as LGBTQIA or it might be a reader’s friend or parent or neighbor who identifies as LGBTQIA. Books in this genre help all readers better understand what living these experiences is like.

The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets, featured in Figure 3-7, is an example of historical nonfiction about being gay in the 1960s and coming out and protesting the social stigma that existed then toward gay people.

From book covers/jackets published by Abrams Books. Used by permission of Harry N. Abrams, New York. All rights reserved. The Stonewall Riots text © 2019 Gayle E. Pitman.

FIGURE 3-7: The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets.

Today, children of all ages might identify as or come out as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB), or they may have family or friends who do. They also need to understand other categories of gender fluidity:

 Transgender: Transgender is the term for someone who identifies as a different gender than the gender they were assigned on their birth certificate.

 Queer: Can have various meanings but inclusively offers a unique celebration of not conforming to social norms (see Figure 3-8). Includes people who identify as non-binary, neither male nor female, using the pronouns they and them instead of she/her or he/him.

 Intersex: Individuals who don’t fit into gender norms of boy or girl, or for those whose reproductive anatomy isn’t typical

 Asexual: People who don’t have an attraction to either sex or who don’t feel typical romantic attachment.

If you aren’t familiar with the LGBTQIA dynamics, all this new, possibly strange-seeming info can be a lot to digest! And some people don’t understand how children can be so sure of their gender associations when they’re still in their developmental stages. Possibly, children just don’t know how they want to identify yet. And they may have family, friends, teachers, or classmates who fall into one of these non-binary categories, so they want to understand. For these reasons, you increasingly find these categories in picture books, middle-grade, and YA novels.

Some standouts in the picture book category include Auntie Uncle: Drag Queen Hero, by Ellie Royce, illustrated by Hannah Chambers (POW Kids); and the hilariously titled The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish, by Lil Miss Hot Mess, illustrated by Olga de Dios (Running Press), which takes as its inspiration the song “The Wheels on the Bus.”

Middle-grade entries include The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James, by Ashley Herring Blake (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), about a 12-year-old who thinks her perfect new best friend might be someone she wants to kiss; and The Witch Boy, by Molly Ostertag (Graphix), about rigid gender roles with subtle trans overtones.

In YA, tons of titles exist to fuel imaginations, satisfy curiosity, and reflect a sense of identity. Figure 3-8 shows a book about two girls who must negotiate their feelings toward each other while existing in a backward-thinking town. In your research, consider titles like The Gravity of Us, by Phil Stamper (Bloomsbury YA); Music from Another World, by Robin Talley (Inkyard Press); and We Are Totally Normal, by Rahul Kanakia (HarperTeen).

From One True Way by Shannon Hitchcock. Copyright © 2018 by Shannon Hitchcock. Reprinted by permission of Scholastic Inc.

FIGURE 3-8: One True Way, from the LGBTQIA genre.