Children’s books on LGBTQ+ history
Today marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which in 1969 sparked the first Pride marches and brought in a new era of LGBTQ+ rights
The Stonewall riots
In the 1960s police routinely raided gay venues, arresting people for cross-dressing.
But in the early morning of 28 June 1969 a raid on the Mafia run gay bar, the Stonewall Inn (Greenwich Village, New York City), resulted in spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community.
The raid turned violent, and the resulting days of demonstrations are considered a watershed event that transformed the gay liberation movement.
Up until then most campaigning for homosexual civil rights had been done by trying to demonstrate the conventional lifestyles of most homosexual people.
Stonewall marked a turning point for the visibility of the more unconventional aspects of LGBTQ+ people's lives.
Collective Biographies:
Queer Heroes
By Arabelle Sicardi and Sarah Tanat-Jones
Collective biography of influential LGBTQ+ people aimed at age 8+
Rainbow Revolutionaries: Fifty LGBTQ+ People Who Made History
By Sarah Prager and Sarah Papworth
Collective biography of 53 LGBTQ+ people aimed at age 10+
Gender Rebels: 30 Trans, Nonbinary, and Gender Expansive Heroes Past and Present
Katherine Locke and Shanee Benjamin
Collective biography of 30 trans and nonbinary people, aimed at teens.
Histories
The LGBTQ + History Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained
By DK
Aimed at older teens and adults. This series takes a more academic/philosophical look at subjects.
Have Pride: An inspirational history of the LGBTQ+ movement
By Stella Caldwell
Aimed at teens.
From Prejudice to Pride: A History of LGBTQ+ Movement
By Amy Lame
Aimed at 11-14 year olds.
The ABCs of Queer History
Dr. Seema Yasmin and Lucy Kirk
One for younger children.
Stonewall
Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution
Rob Sanders and Jamey Christoph
And older picture book about the history of the Stonewall Inn and its role in the gay civil rights movement (aimed at 5-8 year olds)
Experiences
Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped
By Kyle Lukoff and Levi Hastings
A social history picture book aimed at a younger readers
Browse my Children’s books on LGBTQ+ history booklist here: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/children-s-books-on-lgbtq-history