Stories gay authors

The Best LGBTQ+ Short Stories

Over the past fifteen years or so, LGBTQ+ and queer fiction has veritably exploded — what we might call a long-overdue reckoning after many years of literary scarcity.

Ginsberg’s poetry not only pushed literary boundaries but also served as an anthem for free expression.

4. I laughed out loud multiple times throughout reading, and would highly recommend to anyone who wants a darkly hilarious sort-of romance starring an adult main character.

7.

22. She does so with varied success despite the way his friends frequently feel about her.

I liked this book more than Delilah Green, mostly because Iris’ love interest was fun to learn about. You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty

Author: Akwaeke Emezi

Release Date: May 24th, 2022

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Everything is beautiful.

As I followed her journey through youth into adulthood, I found myself rooting for the character while simultaneously understanding her mistakes.

34. Two Boys Kissing

Author: David Leviathan

Release Date: August 27th, 2013

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This book holds a special place in my heart as one of the first queer books I ever read.

Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997)

Genre: Poetry
Notable Works:Howl, Kaddish, America

A leading figure of the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg openly embraced his homosexuality and wrote about it with radical candor. His stories often center around middle-class families and gay characters navigating love and alienation.

Sammie Lucas, a lesbian mother, sort of hates her son.

While Magical Realism isn’t my preferred genre, the character development and relationship building made this book incredibly memorable. Although many of Lawrence’s most famous books have strong focusses on heterosexual relationships, and though the nature of the author’s own attractions is clouded with rumors and assumption, his status as an author of great note means that he is still a worthy addition to this list. 

Lawrence’s fiction brims with themes of male bonding and sensuality, along with a sprinkling of explicit references to queer relationships and romance.

Skye Falling

Author: Mia McKenzie

Release Date: June 22, 2021

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I cannot get over how much I loved this book. Wilde was sent to London’s Newgate Prison for two years from 1895 to 1897 on account of being accused of sodomy and indecency.

This included several chapters directly making references to homosexuality and queer romance. 

As mentioned above, Lawrence’s own sexuality is somewhat of a matter of conjecture, even despite the presence of some historical evidence. Keep in mind that these are simply my opinions, and as a result of that these books tend to skew towards queer women and nonbinary people, given that these are the people I identify with most strongly.

It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.”

Notable works

• Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953)
• Giovanni’s Room (1956)
• Another Country (1962)
• If Beale Street Could Talk (1974)

#8) Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)

The famed creator of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde is more than just an author.

Borrowed Time recounts his partner’s death from AIDS, while Becoming a Man won the National Book Award for its unflinching examination of internalized homophobia and the struggle to come out. Ryan and Avery

Author: David Leviathan

Release Date: September 12th, 2023

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Ryan and Avery is the perfect YA book.

I loved every minute of it, especially the way it allowed characters to find themselves and share that discovery with each other in their own time without the entire book devolving into a “coming out” novel. As someone who also hates my hometown (albeit for much less traumatic reasons) I appreciated the built in redemption arc for both Delilah and her home of Bright Falls.

31.

As mentioned above, however, this particular work was published only posthumously, and before then had only been read by several of Forster’s close friends and acquaintances.

Forster was determined to have the story be a regular romance novel with a happy ending, but this left him with the fear that it would see the book banned and himself prosecuted for spreading taboo content.