In this first picture book about a person with AIDS, from 1989, Tim is not explicitly gay, but is unmarried and runs an antique store; it’s easy to assume he was imagined as a gay man. The book is told from the first-person perspective of his nephew. While the cautious approach to his queerness may feel dated to many readers today, the book offers comfort to children dealing with a loved one who has a terminal illness, and importantly dispels the myth that one can “catch” AIDS by hugging or caring for someone with AIDS.
The title it beat out for the Lambda Literary Award in 1990 was Heather Has Two Mommies, the first picture book to show an intact family with same-sex parents. Heather has gone on to widespread awareness and several editions; if people know only one LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ book, it’s probably Heather. Losing Uncle Tim is long out of print, however; perhaps the clarity of the queer identities in Heather has helped it, or perhaps the difficult subject matter of Losing Uncle Tim made it less popular. Nevertheless, its subject matter clearly struck a chord at the time, as the award shows. (And both books speak to the burgeoning need at the time for children’s books about subjects of interest to the queer community and with queer characters.)
