LGBT+ History Month: Read, Watch, Listen 

Monday 01-02-2021 - 16:22
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LGBT+ History Month takes place every year during the month of February and aims to promote equality and diversity for the benefit, not just the LGBT+ community, but the wider population. This year’s theme is ‘Body, Mind, Spirit’ which you can find out more about here

To celebrate LGBT+ History Month, MDXSU, the MDX LGBT+ Staff Network and the LGBTQ+ Students Liberation Group are organising a variety of events and activity, which you can see here. We’ve also pulled together this list of resources for you to check out – it includes lots of different podcasts, TV shows, films, books and articles that you can use to expand your knowledge on LGBT+ topics, whether you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community or an ally.  

Watch 

Pose (Netflix or BBC iPlayer): Pose focuses on the queer Black and Latino communities of the ballroom scene in 1980’s New York City and features the largest amount of trans actors in regular roles of any scripted TV series in history.  

Euphoria (Now TV or Amazon Prime): Drama series following the life of a group of teenagers dealing with sex, identity and drug abuse.  

Dickinson (Apple TV): Dickinson is a historical, comedy-drama series which follows the early years of the 19th century poet, exploring the constraints of society, gender and family from the perspective of a budding writer.  

Pride Collection (Channel 4): Various TV shows and documentaries celebrating LGBT+ Pride. 

Paris is Burning (YouTube): A documentary chronicling the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay and transgender communities involved in it.  

The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Netflix): A coming-of-age film which follows Cameron Post, a teenage girl discovering her sexuality, only to be forced into gay conversation therapy.  

Disobedience (Amazon Prime): Set in Hendon, North London, a woman returns to her Orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for her attraction to a female childhood friend. Once back, their relationship reignites as they explore the boundaries of faith and sexuality.  

Moonlight (Amazon Prime): A coming-of-age drama that presents three stages in the life of the a young Black man and explores the difficulties he faces with his sexuality and identity. 

Rafiki (BFI Player): The story of a romance that grows between two young women, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT+ rights in Kenya.  

Rent (Amazon Prime): A musical drama film which depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles with sexuality, drugs and identity under the shadow of AIDS in New York City.  

Tomboy (Amazon Prime):A French drama film which tells the story of a 10 year old gender non-conforming child who moves to a new neighbourhood and experiments with their gender presentation.  

Listen 

NB – My non-binary life: BBC podcast series exploring how it feels to be non-binary. 

The Log Books: this podcast series tells stories from LGBTQIA+ history and conversations about being queer today.  

Busy Being Black: this podcast series explores how members of the LGBTQ+ community can live the fullness of their queer Black lives.  

Nancy: this podcast series tells provocative stories and holds frank conversations about the LGBTQ+ experience today.  

Queery: a podcast series hosted by Cameron Esposito, exploring individual stories of identity, personality and shifting the cultural matrix around gender, sexuality and civil rights.  

What the Trans!?: a UK based news podcast for trans and non-binary folks and allies.  

Transparently Trans: an education podcast series exploring all aspects of the transgender community.  

Hoodrat to Headwrap (A Decolonized Podcast): podcast series hosted by real life partners, Erika Hart and Ebony Donnley, takes you through current events, pop culture and all manner of topics – all through a black, queer, de-colonialist lens.  

Gay Britannia: a series of short BBC interviews with LGBT+ people.

Read (non-fiction books) 

Burgerz by Travis Alabanza: Burgerz explores how trans and gender non-conforming bodies exist and how we can address our own complicity.  

Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon: spoken word poet Alok Vaid-Menon challenges the world to see gender not in black and white, but in full colour.  

Trans Power – Own Your Gender by Juno Roche: Juno Roche pushes the boundaries of trans representation by redefining ‘trans’ as an identity with its own power and strength that goes beyond the gender binary.  

When They Call You a Terrorist – a Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele: a powerful memoir about what it means to be a Black woman in America, and the co-founding of a movement that demands justice for all.  

Read (fiction books) 

Read Life by Brandon Taylor: coming of age novel that tells the experiences of Wallace, a queer, black biochemistry graduate in a predominantly white PhD program – from the microaggressions he deals with on a daily basis to the loneliness of being a black person in a mostly white place. 

Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro: a story of resilience and loss, testifying to the vulnerability and strength of a community living within a system of oppression as well as a celebration of queer youth of colour.  

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett: In a community that isn’t always understanding, a HIV-positive bisexual teen must navigate fear, disclosure and self-acceptance as she falls in love.  

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera: a 19 year-old Puerto Rican lesbian takes an internship with a famous white feminist writer, determined to figure out how to be gay.  

Read (articles) 

https://www.them.us/story/this-is-what-gender-nonbinary-people-look-like   

https://www.them.us/story/nonbinary-invisibility-queer-spaces  

https://www.newstatesman.com/international/2020/09/judith-butler-culture-wars-jk-rowling-and-living-anti-intellectual-times  

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200814-why-our-medical-systems-are-ignoring-transgender-people  

https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/46703/1/what-its-like-to-be-transgender-in-the-uk-prison-system  

https://www.dazeddigital.com/beauty/body/article/41865/1/cervical-smear-test-as-a-trans-man  

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/27/us/politics/black-trans-lives-matter.html  

https://www.dazeddigital.com/politics/article/50492/1/why-the-government-must-let-trans-people-self-define-their-gender  

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