LGBTQ2S+ Literature Class Additions for Spring 2026

Given that we’re in a particular time in American history, I’m adding more resilience and resistance to my class, LGBTQ2S+ Literature in America, in spring 2026. This includes adding more indigenous voices and more Black voices—as well as more play and magic (all of which often overlap). Here’s a sneak peek of the additions students will get to experience in the spring:

Barbara Smith

Barbara Smith has agreed to visit the class this year via Zoom! Barbara created the foundational work that went into the concept of intersectionality. We’ll read one or two of her essays. Possible selections include “Homophobia: Why Bring It Up?” and “The Tip of the Iceberg” (which I’m appreciating was written for a 1994 issue of Sinister Wisdom). 

If anyone’s worried about the addition of two essays, take heart, Barbara has an enviably blunt and straightforward essay style. The final selection of what we read will be influenced by Barbara herself. 

Reclaiming Two-Spirits

We’ll read selections from “Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America” by Gregory D. Smithers, which is a wonderful addition to our readings from “Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory by Quo-Li Driskill.” In fact, Chapter 11 of Reclaiming Two-Spirits includes more of the story of the 2004 efforts of Kathy Reynolds and Dawn McKinley to become the first same-sex couple to get married in the modern Cherokee Nation that we begin reading about in Asegi Stories. (I won’t exactly spoiler how that story ends, except to tell you that Chapter 11 is titled “Love.”)

Teaser quote from Chapter 12: Futures:

“Vibrance is key to Indigenous futures, just as it characterizes Native histories. … [Native people] live, work and create vibrant lives for themselves, their families, and their communities. Two-Spirit people draw creative energy from these Indigenous spaces. ‘Two-Spirit’ denotes the existence of feminine and masculine qualities in a single person. This English translation was never meant to limit gender and sexual expression, or the connection people make to tradition and community.” 

Donja R. Love

I’m looking at the plays of Donja R. Love as a way to include queer Black history from the 1800s and also include a script in our reading. I’m currently torn between “Sugar in Our Wounds,” which has excellent video available, and “When We Are Found.” Love’s works of historical fiction fit powerfully with the short stories we’re already reading to continue to fill in lost stories from American history. 

More Magic

Pew Research recently showed that LGBTQ individuals tend to use astrology and Tarot more than their cis-heterosexual counterparts. This may be in large part because it’s a way to fulfill the human needs for awe and wonder outside of a restrictive religious setting. 

Pew Research says: 

“Americans who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) are especially likely to consult astrology or a horoscope, and tarot cards. About half of LGBT Americans (54%) consult astrology or a horoscope at least yearly – roughly twice the share among U.S. adults overall (28%). And LGBT women are more likely than LGBT men to consult astrology at least yearly (63% vs. 40%).

In addition, 33% of LGBT adults say they consult tarot cards – making them three times as likely as U.S. adults overall to say this (11%).”

Also my colleague Professor Todne Thomas is pioneering the teaching of Tarot in the classroom at Yale.

It’s likely that we’ll spend at least one class looking at queer and trans Tarot creators and readers–especially including the work of trans lesbian Tarot Grand Master Rachel Pollack. 

Escape Room

Last year, inspired by student interest, we had a one-day escape room scenario involving material from the class readings. We had so much fun that a student used the creative response assignment to create a framework for a semester-long escape room. The reading each week will allow teams to uncover clues that will culminate at the end of the semester in dramatic puzzle-solving for prizes!

Macalester students: registration period starts soon. If you’re interested in taking this class in the spring, please sign up! And see my former interview for more insights into how I teach this class.

Do you have questions about these additions or other authors/texts who you think fit in this space? Let me know in the comments on this post if you’re so inclined.

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