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Newsmaker: Bob the Drag Queen

Bob the Drag Queen Photo: Rowan Daly Bob the Drag Queen—who won RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2016 and has since starred in other reality shows such as HBO’s We’re Here and Peacock’s Traitors, as well as several comedy specials—released his debut novel this month. Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert (Gallery Books) imagines the iconic abolitionist […]

Newsmaker: Mariko Tamaki

Mariko Tamaki’s skill at portraying the queer teenage experience has earned her many awards, including the Michael L. Printz Award and a Caldecott Honor for This One Summer (illustrated by Jillian Tamaki) and Eisner Awards for Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me (illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell). Her unflinching approach to telling these stories has […]

Newsmaker: Harvey Fierstein

Photo: Bruce Glikas When the coronavirus first arrived in New York City in early 2020 and theaters went dark, actor and playwright Harvey Fierstein—a self-described hermit, though some would say he’s synonymous with Manhattan’s Midtown theater district—retreated to his home in Connecticut and started work on a memoir. I Was Better Last Night (Knopf, March […]

A Deeper Look: Censorship beyo1

Programming such as drag queen story hours has been subject to challenges. Photo: Jennifer Ricard Just as books are sometimes challenged and banned in libraries, schools, universities, and public institutions, other library materials, resources, and services have been challenged, canceled, or dismantled. People’s perception of offensive content is not limited to the written word. Censorship […]

The Rainbow’s Arc

The ALA Gay and Lesbian Task Force ­marching in the 1992 San Francisco Pride parade. Photo: ALA Archives Fifty years ago, under the auspices of the American Library Association’s Social Responsibilities Round Table, a small group of activists, librarians, and activist-librarians formed what was then known as the Task Force on Gay Liberation—the very first gay […]

By the Numbers: Pride Month

Cruise: The Guide to Gay Entertainment in the Southeast. Photo: Queer Music Heritage 1970Year the Rainbow Round Table (RRT) of the American Library Association (ALA)—the nation’s first LGBT professional organization—was founded as the Task Force on Gay Liberation. (For more on the RRT and its 50th anniversary, see our story “The Rainbow’s Arc.”) 49Number of years […]