Rachel Gold’s Queer/Trans Elder Reading List

As we wrap up the turbulence that has been 2025, we both wanted to reflect back on media that has shaped our visions of being LGBTQ+. Connecting to LGBTQ+ elders is vital for the survival and strength of our community, and it is an act that the forces of history have worked to prevent. Here you’ll find books, posts, videos, podcasts, and more—all about, and often by, LGBTQ+ people and lives. May you discover that your experience is not entirely new, and may that be a comforting feeling.

A note on the use of the word “elder/s”: While Rachel included many things by folks who would traditionally be classified as “elders,” Ashton took a slightly different direction. Here, “elder” is not referring to a specific age or generational cutoff. Instead, it is a collection of work by those who came before us, even if some of them are barely older than we are. 

Some of these inclusions come with personal reflections, while others simply give the description of the text/media. Some may be a mix of both. We hope that, for any text you are interested in, you explore it on your own and see if you want to dive into it. 

With that said, here is our queer/trans elders reading list, in no particular order. Please use the table of contents above to bounce around to the items that interest you most. 

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, Kai Cheng Thom 

(Ashton) 

Up until reading this book, my experiences of LGBTQ+ lives in media were mostly the sanitized, family-friendly versions presented in pieces like Love, Simon, and “Glee.” These representations have their place and value, but they definitely do not portray the breadth of the queer experience. 

Fierce Femmes was the first time I witnessed a radical, outside-the-boundaries trans girl. It was a wake-up moment: “holy shit, we can be dangerous and powerful.” After reading this, I started theorizing about gender differently, understanding it as a system beyond simple comprehension and labeling. It’s messy, complex, and, of course, fierce. 

Gender Outlaw, Kate Bornstein 

(Rachel) 

“Gender Outlaw is the work of a woman who has been through some changes–a former heterosexual male, a one-time Scientologist and IBM salesperson, now a lesbian woman writer and actress who makes regular rounds on the TV (so to speak) talk shows. In her book, Bornstein covers the “mechanics” of her surgery, everything you’ve always wanted to know about gender (but were too confused to ask) addresses the place and politics of the transgendered and intterogates the questions of those who give the subject little thought, creating questions of her own.” 

End of Pride Month Q & GAY, Thomas Sanders & Friends 

(Ashton) 

Although I missed the golden days of Vine, I watched a lot of Thomas Sanders on YouTube. This video, specifically Joan’s portions of it, made me go “WOAH.” Without them, it likely would have taken me multiple more years to realize that I was nonbinary—or that such a thing was even an option. While Sanders is queer, he’s also always done a great job at uplifting the voices of other queer and trans folks to speak to their own experiences. 

Rachel Pollack’s… well, everything 

(Rachel) 

If you’ve been following the blog for a bit, you know Rachel Pollack has helped shape my own journey. From her explorations of tarot to trans activism, her work has always been close to my heart and soul. 

Pollack created the iconic trans lesbian superhero Kate Godwin (Coagula) in response to less-than-ideal trans comic book characters before her. We were good friends, and I still mourn her loss and celebrate her life. 

Books Rachel Pollack has written include Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Godmother Night, and Unquenchable Fire. You can also find many other talks and writings of hers across the web. 

Barbara Smith 

(Rachel) 

I’ve talked about it before, but Smith’s work has been very influential for me. Getting to see her at the GCLS conference this summer was definitely a highlight of the year! 

The 57 Bus, Dashka Slater 

(Ashton) 

Full disclosure, I don’t know if Dashka Slater is part of our community. But this book very much is. The true story of a horrific hate crime in California in 2013, where an agender student’s skirt was set on fire by another student. Based on Slater’s earlier news coverage of the event, this book tracks the story of both teens involved—the lives that led to this moment, what happened, and how their stories unfolded afterwards. 

Slater doesn’t shy away from nuance. Some of the texts on this list are ones that, rather than shifting how I viewed my queerness itself, changed the way I approach my relationality to others, both within and without queer spaces. This is perhaps the most influential of those. It’s an invaluable reminder that there are many sides to every story—but those sides do not excuse a hate crime like this. It also shows how people can learn and grow and change, providing hope that long-term change is possible. 

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu 

(Ashton) 

Yet again, I don’t think Le Fanu was queer. Carmilla, though, is one of the queerest texts I’ve ever read, despite being published in 1872. A foundation of Gothic horror and the canon vampire text. It presents an incredible nuanced take on lesbian sexuality that can be interpreted in a lot of ways, both supportive and harmful. 

Seeing these ideas in a very different cultural context from our own was a valuable part of my understanding of queerness in history. The connections to be examined between deviance, monstrosity, and desire are also rich. Truly, if there’s one book on this list I recommend most, it’s Carmilla.

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Trash, Dorothy Allison 

(Rachel) 

“Trash, Allison’s landmark collection, laid the groundwork for her critically acclaimed Bastard Out of Carolina, the National Book Award finalist that was hailed by The New York Times Book Review as “simply stunning…a wonderful work of fiction by a major talent.” In addition to Allison’s classic stories, this new edition of Trash features “Stubborn Girls and Mean Stories,” an introduction in which Allison discusses the writing of Trash and “Compassion,” a never-before-published short story.

First published in 1988, the award-winning Trash showcases Allison at her most fearlessly honest and startlingly vivid. The limitless scope of human emotion and experience are depicted in stories that give aching and eloquent voice to the terrible wounds we inflict on those closest to us. These are tales of loss and redemption; of shame and forgiveness; of love and abuse and the healing power of storytelling.

A book that resonates with uncompromising candor and incandescence, Trash is sure to captivate Allison’s legion of readers and win her a devoted new following.”

Conversations With People Who Hate Me, Dylan Marron 

(Ashton) 

Apparently Marron went on to write a book with this title, but I am referring to the podcast. I stopped listening in the early days, sadly. The episodes I did listen to stick with me. In the podcast, Marron either speaks directly with people who have left him hateful messages online, or facilitates conversations between two people with antagonistic views. 

To the best of his ability, these conversations are calm, respectful, and informative. This was another piece of media that changed how I think about my queerness in relation to others, and how I approach navigating LGBTQ+ identity in public spaces. It’s a good model of dialogue across differences, although certainly not the only one. 

Kate Delafield series, Katherine V. Forrest 

I (Rachel) first met Katherine through her science fiction novel Daughters of a Coral Dawn (a classic lesbian feminist SF tale) and then through editing. I figured I should read at least a few of her mysteries, despite not being a big mystery reader at the time, and surprised myself by reading all of them. My favorites include #3 in the series, “The Beverly Malibu,” and #7, “Sleeping Bones.” 

From Goodreads: “When Katherine V. Forrest’s Amateur City was published in 1984, introducing LAPD detective Kate Delafield, it not only marked the beginning of one of mystery fiction’s most successful series, it also created one of the most lucrative genres in gay publishing: the lesbian mystery. With this series, Forrest’s complex and determined lesbian detective became the most celebrated figure in lesbian fiction” 

Sugar in Our Wounds, Donja R. Love 

(Ashton) 

“On a plantation during the Civil War, a mystical tree stretches toward heaven. It protects James, a young slave, while he reads newspapers about the imminent possibility of freedom, as the battle rages on. When a brooding stranger arrives, James and his makeshift family take the man in. Soon, an unexpected bond leads to a striking romance, and everyone is in uncharted territory. But is love powerful enough to set your true self free? This lyrical and lushly realized play is part of poet, filmmaker and playwright Donja R. Love’s exploration of queer love at pivotal moments in Black history.”

This certainly isn’t an easy play to watch, but it’s one of my absolute favorites. Its representation of the struggle of Southern queer Black men in the time of the civil war is deep and rich with history. 

Rachel also adds: When We Are Found, which is not available to read yet but premiered at the Penumbra Theater this year. 

Romance de la Luna, Luna, Federico García Lorca 

(Ashton) 

Ok, I lied when I said “in no particular order.” I did purposely save this one for last. 

This poem follows the tradition of Spanish folk poetry, breaking from its formal conventions but maintaining its themes and tone. A short, bittersweet poem about forbidden desire. 

Forbidden desire because García Lorca himself was queer, and faced many struggles due to that fact. This despaired longing might be a reference to his unrequited feelings for Salvador Dalí, or the end of his relationship with Emilio Aladrén Perojo. Regardless, it echoes feelings I could relate to, even almost a hundred years after its publication in 1928. 

In 1936, García Lorca was assassinated. His remains have never been found, and the exact motivation for his killing is unknown, but his queer identity, as well as outspoken socialist views, likely played large roles. This poem, and author, was the first time in my schooling that I encountered a work by an explicitly LGBTQ+ writer. Even before learning he was gay, the poem spoke to me. 

I hadn’t read it in a while, so I sat with it for a long time just now. It still hits hard. From both a sexuality/gender and disability perspective, I’m intimately familiar with deviant desire. 

And even more…

(Rachel) 

There are too many great elders to dive deep into all of them! However, I’ve previously posted a reading list for my LGBTQ2S+ Lit class, which contains other great recommendations, including: 

• Audre Lorde
• Jewelle Gomez
• James Baldwin 

Stay tuned in January for an updated list of what I’ll be teaching in 2026!

These are a few of our favorites, but they’re definitely not the only ones. Similar books are also on our Queer/Trans Literature resource page, and maybe some of these will be added there in the future. 

What other things would you add to this list? Were there things that surprised you? Let me know in the comments on this post if you’re so inclined.

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