LGBTQ+ Nonfiction
A variety of non-fiction reflecting lives and experiences across the broad spectrum of gender and sexual orientation, selected by librarians at The Seattle Public Library. Annotations by staff or as noted. (updated March 2025)
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Gender Euphoria
A collection of essays by trans, non-binary, agender, gender-fluid and intersex writers describing the joy that comes from embracing their identities.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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High-risk Homosexual
Gomez details his coming of age as a gay Latinx man in this funny, poignant, and fearless memoir.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Brown Neon
Gutiérrez’s debut essay collection skillfully engages questions of art, borders, relationships, love, gender, and identity.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Hijab Butch Blues
In this transformative and transgressive memoir, Lamya H shares the challenges and triumphs growing up gender nonconforming, Muslim, and a woman by finding strength and inspiration in stories from the Quran.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Mama
In this searing and uplifting memoir, a young Black queer woman fresh out of college adopts her baby brother after their incarcerated mother dies, determined to create the kind of family she never had. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Before We Were Trans
Trans historian and activist Heyam showcases an overlooked, inclusive history of trans experience from antiquity to the present.
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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Queer Love in Color
Jordon’s loving collection of photographs and stories offers an intimate portrait of love and affection between queer couples and families of color.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams
The lost history of Eve Adams, a Jewish lesbian radical and activist who was convicted of obscenity and deported to Nazi Germany. Includes the original text of Adams’ rare book Lesbian Love.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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I'm in Seattle, Where Are You?
Iraqi writer Gzar recounts his immigration to the US, his search for an American solider with whom he had a clandestine romance in Baghdad, and the aid and friendship found in Seattle’s gay community.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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How to Live Free in A Dangerous World
A nonbinary, disabled, Black writer describes how travel has informed their journey to liberation. Lawson is a gifted chronicler not only of their own personal revolution, but also of the power structures that affect their place in the world. A stunning essay collection about travel, mortality, and liberation. (Kirkus)
Format: Book
Availability: Available