This boldly illustrated volume is a visual joy as it profiles 50 pioneering LGBTQ+ artists, actors, and musicians from the mid-19th century through the 2010s. By focusing solely on the arts rather than on accomplishments of LGBTQ people more broadly, it is able to look even at some slightly lesser-known LGBTQ+ individuals. While it does not shy away from the difficulties faced by LGBTQ+ people over the centuries (and notes several who died by suicide), it also highlights when they were able to live with some degree of openness and to have happy relationships, even long ago.
The people profiled represent a range of racial and ethnic identities and are from a variety of countries, predominantly in Europe and the Americas, with a few from Asia and Australia. Only one (Freddie Mercury) is from Africa. The vast majority of those profiled are LGB, but a few transgender people are also included (and it is possible a few others might have identified as trans in a later era).
Overall, the single-page biographies by David Lee Csicsko are clear and offer interesting key facts about their subjects’ professional and personal lives. Some of the text could use grammatical help, however (at least in the online review copy I accessed). Right in the first profile, for example, we read: “The symphonies of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are played more frequently than any other classical composer.” (The sentence needs “those of” before “any.”) We also learn of Alla Nazimova, “Despite being one of the highest paid actresses at the MGM studio, her productions were often extravagant failures,” which reads as if her productions were highly paid actresses. (It’s a classic example of a dangling modifier.) And the first sentence about dancer Willi Ninja says: “Born in Queens in 1961, Ninja was a self-taught dancer who loved it from an early age,” leaving the “it” referring to nothing. Finally, despite the title using “LGBTQ+,” the text uses “LGBT,” which feels inconsistent.
A few facts are not sufficiently explained or could be clarified for young readers. We read, for example, that writer Alain LeRoy Locke “secured a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at Howard University, a milestone in African American education,” but we are not told what Phi Beta Kappa is (a prestigious honor society) nor that Howard is a historically Black university. The book also tells us that poet Natalie Clifford Barney was “a true feminist, an out lesbian who lived with great passion and did not believe in loving only one person,” which could imply that being polyamorous and an out lesbian are defining characteristics of being a true feminist. (Adding “and” after “feminist” would have clarified that these are separate characteristics.) At least one fact is simply wrong: Mary Renault did not get “two degrees at Oxford, first in English and then in nursing.” She got a BA in English at Oxford, and then studied nursing at the Radcliffe Infirmary, which is in the city of Oxford but not part of the university. (Oxford University does not grant nursing degrees.)
Back matter includes a list of general resources for LGBTQ youth; only one of the 16 items listed (The Legacy Project) has anything to do with LGBTQ history per se. While general resources for LGBTQ youth are important, I would have liked to see some more resources for anyone who wants to dive further into LGBTQ history or the lives of the people portrayed here. At the very least, a link to the Lesbian Herstory Archives feels warranted.
Despite these many small flaws, however (which could be corrected in a future edition), the substance of the book is solid and it has positive value for its many inspiring (and generally accurate) profiles, particularly of figures whom readers may have been unlikely to encounter elsewhere or whose queer identities may have been hidden in other biographies or mentions of their work. Owen Keehnen’s striking facing-page illustrations are what make the book really stand out, however; some readers may even want to buy two copies so they can cut one up for display on their walls.
Note: While Amazon lists the book as being for ages 8 and up, it also gives the grade level as 2 to 3—but to me, grades 2 and 3 would be a little young, based on the complexity of the text. I’d place the book more into middle-grade territory, with possible interest to some older elementary readers.
Will be published 6/28/2022, but is available for preorder.
