#gender queer a memoir

[redgoldsparks]

Transcript below the cut.

instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

Panel 1: For the second year in a row, Gender Queer was the most challenged book in the US, reported the American Library Association.

Panel 2: It’s been a weird two years. Number of unique titles challenged in the US by year. 2000: 378 titles. 2005: 259 titles. 2010: 262 titles. 2015: 190 titles. 2020: 223 titles. 2021: 1858 titles. 2022: 2571 titles.

Panel 3: It’s been a hard two years. The ACLU is tracking 469 anti-LGBTQ bills in the US.

Panel 4: Usually I prefer to wait until something is over before I write about it, so I have time to reflect. But this experience has not ended.

Panel 5: It has only gotten louder. (A series of screen shoots of news headlines about Gender Queer, book challenges and an obscenity lawsuit against the book being dismissed in the state of Virginia).

Panel 6: I’m constantly wondering, “When should I speak and when should I let the book speak for itself?”

Panel 7: I remember when I realized that the previous most challenged book spent five years in the top five.

2020- Melissa by Alex Gino at #1 2019- Melissa by Alex Gino at #1 2018- Melissa by Alex Gino at #1 2017- Melissa by Alex Gino at #5 2016- Melissa by Alex Gino at #3

Panel 8: Oh, I think I can take my time figuring out how to respond. I think I’m in this for the long haul...

Panel 9: Ways to support libraries and challenged authors: Check out and read challenged books. Vote for and attend library board and school board meetings. Report censorship to the ALA and PEN America. Vote to fund libraries. Speak up against legislation limiting the teaching of queer history, sex ed, abortion and the history of racism in the US.

Panel 10: Most challenged books of 2022:

1. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

2. All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson

3. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

4. Flamer by Mike Curato

5. (tie) Looking For Alaska by John Green

5. (tie) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

7. Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

9. Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

10. (tie) A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

10. (tie) Crank by Ellen Hopkins

10. (tie) Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

10. (tie) This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

[newtness532]

having big thoughts bc of gender queer, a memoir

[redgoldsparks]

Here's another Sandman related story which didn't make it into Gender Queer: in high school I had a really cool English teacher, Mrs V, who lend me her copies of the Sandman series when she learned I liked comics, sometime around 2004. They completely blew my mind. Later, for an assignment in her Mythology class, I drew Death from Sandman as the Death Tarot card. On the back of the drawing, she wrote "A+, Can't wait to read your first graphic novel" which was the first time any adult ever expressed confidence in the idea that someday I would write and draw a graphic novel. Mrs V's encouragement planted a seed. I don't even know if I yet believed I could finish a graphic novel, but Mrs V wanted to read it, so I had to! I started to take my comics more serious after that. In 2019, Mrs V came to one of the stops on my Gender Queer book tour and I signed a copy for her and I was able to tell her how much that support meant to me <3 Thank you forever to Mrs V for putting Sandman into my hands and also thank you to @neil-gaiman for the inspiration!

(two pages from a comic I drew in 2018 about things that encouraged me to keep making art) instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book

Hello Mister Gaiman!

I'm currently reading "Genderqueer" by Maia Kobabe for one of my university classes on Queer Embodiment, and found this little gem. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Morpheus helping out a questioning genderqueer person on their journey to self-discovery sounds about right!

It really does.

[writerlunawinters]

Title: Gender Queer: A Memoir

Author: Maia Kobabe

Genre: Graphic Novel Memoir

Published: May 28, 2019

My Thoughts: A memoir that will help so many people and told in such a unique way

Maia Kobabe's autobiography, Gender Queer, is an intensely cathartic autobiography that charts eir journey of self-identity, including the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, coming out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and violation of pap smears. It is a useful and touching guide on gender identity for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

Gender Queer is a story I didn’t know I needed in graphic Novel form. Maia Kobabe puts the very vulnerable and raw experience of eir life on each page for the reader to fall in love with. Even if you have never questioned yourself in this way, Gender Queer still finds a way to reach your heart. While I couldn’t relate to everything, the questioning of self and discovering who you are is a message I wish was a conversation I had as a teenager.

I recommend this to anyone and everyone. I’ve read reviews that think this is too mature for teenage audiences (there are discussions of sexual identity), but I disagree. Like most teenagers, I was exposed to conversations surrounding sex that were 100% not done well. Gender Queer is not only one person’s exploration of self but a story of self-acceptance and community, which we all could read more of.

[librarycards]

do you have any recommendations for readings or memoirs or anything about non-binary identity?

yes! so, I feel obligated to share a few that I've done ––

Co/notations, an annotated essay chapbook.

Social Skills: A transdyke autie-biography in Sinister Wisdom

In Praise of -Less in AZE Journal

Others' Memoirs/Poetics:

Stacey Waite, Love Poem to Androgyny

Vivek Shraya, She of the Mountains

Akwaeke Emezi, Dear Senthuran

Eli Clare, Exile and Pride

Ivan E. Coyote, Tomboy Survival Guide

Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Dirty River

T. Fleischmann, Time is the Thing A Body Moves Through

Sabrina Imbler, Dyke [geology]

Joan Nestle, ed., Genderqueer: Voices From Beyond the Sexual Binary [warning: this is pretty old]

Fiction [beyond Stone Butch Blues]:

Megan Milks, Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body

Sassafras Lowry, Roving Pack

John Elizabeth Stintzi, Vanishing Monuments

-

These are obviously not all of the gender-noncompliant/nonbinary/genderqueer/etc books I've read, nor all of the ones I recommend, but they do apply directly to your specification that they be about identity as such. Hope you find something you like!

[richincolor]

On Book Bans 📚

The 2023 Banned Books Update is out from PEN America, and you should definitely check it out. One data point that leapt out to me: 

“Overwhelmingly, book banners continue to target stories by and about people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals. In this six-month period, 30% of the unique titles banned are books about race, racism, or feature characters of color. Meanwhile, 26% of unique titles banned have LGBTQ+ characters or themes.“

And what can you do about it? This thread from Kelly Jensen has plenty of resources. Here is a Book Riot round-up of anti-censorship groups across America, and here is a post on how to fight book bans. 

Kelly Jensen on Twitter is a great follow for anti-book-ban resources and efforts, as is Florida Freedom to Read. 

TL;DR -- the best way to help is to get involved locally: 

attend school board meetings

keep up with what your local library is up to

write to your local representatives

call out book ban attempts and hate groups

donate to groups fighting book bans

and of course, don’t forget to vote

tell others about what is happening -- don’t let this fly under the radar

[paperwizards]

My voice is one of many in the din of tumblr, but to anyone who isn't sure about the book: read it.

This memoir changes my life every time I come back to it. The first time I read it, I was searching for a story that talked about asexuality as I figured out my sexuality. I found someone who talked about gender in a way that resonated deeply with me, and also made me stop and realize that my fifty year old parent told the same stories as Maia. They came out as non binary shortly after I did, in the same year that I first read Gender Queer.

I came back to it again as I socially transitioned and found validation in the pages. I also found validation as an artist; my work is simple and illustrative, and Maia's work provides inspiration and reference material every time I flip through it. I learn from er artwork when I look at how e draws everyday poses and life, the cruel mundanities of existing as a trans person rendered in soft lines and warm, calming earth tones. Er art is a gift.

The most recent time I reread it was after a dramatic and sudden breakup. Without getting into too many details, there had been conflict due to my asexuality. In a moment of cosmic ourobourous-ing, I picked up Gender Queer again, seeking solace in how Maia writes about er own asexuality.

This book has awards for a reason, and it persists despite being one of the most banned books in the United States for the past two years. There are universal truths about the experience of exploring gender and sexuality in here that have resonated deeply with me as I continue to explore my own world. And hey, if emotionally raw pleas don't convince you, read it out of spite. Make a bigot mad. Maybe it will help with your art, or your gender, or your sexuality. And maybe (hopefully) it will be there for you when you have a breakup, and you can feel at home again.

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

goodreads

In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.

Mod opinion: I've read this one and I enjoyed it.

[queer-book-society]

Title: What's the T? The Guide to All Things Trans and/or Nonbinary

Author(s): Juno Dawson, Soofiya (Artist)

Description: In What’s the T?, Stonewall ambassador and bestselling author Juno Dawson is back again, this time with everything you’ve wanted to know about labels and identities and offering uncensored advice on coming out, sex, and relationships with her trademark humor and lightness of touch. It is informative, helpful, optimistic, and funny but with a good dose of reality and some of the things that can downright suck too.

[redgoldsparks]

A piece I drew this summer for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund SDCC silent auction sponsored by Oni Press. Fight censorship, read comics! instagram / patreon / portfolio / etsy / my book / redbubble

[the---hermit]

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

I am not a huge memoir reader, but you can bet that if it's a graphic memoir I will pick it up, plus I want to expand my queer book collection, and this book was an amazing addition, that I know I will reread in the future. The author is non-binary and uses e/em/eir pronouns, which I never had to use before so if I fuck up while writing and editing please let me know. With this being said Gender Queer is a memoir and focuses on the author's journey of getting to know eir own self from a sexuality and gender point of view. But it feels reductive to describe this book as just that. The author does a great job at telling the story of eir life without skipping on all the existential crisis, the confusion and the fear. It's a very raw and honest work in my opinion, and it's amazing just because of that. Em couldn't have done a better job at explaing this complicated journey with all its ups and downs. There's fear and confusion, but also joy in getting to understand yourself more. It doesn't skip on any kind of thought, there's a few points that hit so close to home, ans that will keep sparking thoughts. The way the author talkes about gender and eir way of presenting is incredibly clever. I particularly liked how em used a landscape to talk about gender. It's not easy to put into words how good this graphic memoir is, and the fact that it was banned so much is scary and should be a good enough reason to pick it up. I feel like this could be a great way to let non-queer people understand a little better how figuring these things about yourself is, and how complex it gets. It's a little like being in the author's head sometimes, which is why I feel like this could be a great tool for queer allies to understand some things on a deeper level. As a queer person who is actually pondering a lot of these questions, it was very comforting to read about someone who stuggled just as much, but honestly reminds you of how layered and complicated these things are. Additionally I really liked the illustrations, the colour palette felt nice and overall I just really liked the look of this book (I should mention my edition which is the Italian on wasn't as curated as it should have because a few pages were blurred to a point you couldn't clearly read, which is absolutely unacceptable especially for how expensive graphic novels are. I never had such problems with this publisher, but that was kinda disappointing because I expected a bit more cure on the details, but again that is the Italian publisher's fault).

I read this for the jumbo reading challenge non binary author prompt.

[renaroo]

For the last two years, one graphic novel has been the source of controversy and censorship in the United States of America. Young audiences all over have been gravitating toward the deeply personal and frank discussions of self and exploration that is Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir.

Join Behind the Yellow Boxes as Steph and Brook explore the controversial graphic novel, return to their opinions on censorship and book bans, and provide a brief overview of the story within.

For more information about current book bans as well as advice on what you can do to battle censorship in your community, visit bit.ly/GenderQueerbans

We’re on patreon! Support us at patreon.com/yellowboxespodcast

Follow us on twitter @yellowboxespod, email us at yellowboxespodcast@gmail.com, and find our full show notes over at yellowboxespodcast.blogspot.com.

Feelin’ Good Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[iampancakeee]

I read "Gender Queer: A Memoir" by Maia Kobabe today and I nearly cried like twice (but I held my tears because I was in public lol)

I related so much to most of eir experiences. It's crazy how e was able to put them into words so perfectly when I've been struggling for months, if not years, to say the same thing.

I plan to actually buy the book when I have money so I can have it in my hands because it's just that special.

Anyways here are my favourite panels, the ones I related to the most :)

[acesincomics]

New from the American Library Association: Gender Queer, the graphic memoir by aromantic asexual non-binary creator Maia Kobabe @redgoldsparks, remains the most challenged book in the United States for two years in a row.

2022 also saw unprecedented attempts to ban library books across the U.S. Today’s report includes the Top 13 Most Challenged Books of 2022, which makes clear what books are being targeted: books by and about LGBTQIA+ and Black people. -American Library Association

Gender Queer has been challenged 151 times, up from the previous year. Read the full report by the ALA here.

It continues to be ever important that asexual and aromantic perspectives are included in discussing book bans, censorship, and the increasing attacks against the LGBTQIA+ community more broadly.

A fairly extensive Twitter thread about Gender Queer from last year, in case you missed it:

[theexhaustedqueer]

Happy fucking pride everybody!!!!

I’ve decided to celebrate by making an effort consume as much queer-centric media as I can because I tend to be very picky about the media I consume and as such tend to sleep on things I’d actually really enjoy. So, fellow queers, what should I be reading/watching/listening to this June? Books, movies, tv shows, fiction or non fiction, anything’s fine by me. Any recommendations you have would be fabulous (though I ask you to refrain from suggesting things that are already massively popular, e.g. Heartstopper, I’m looking for things I might not have heard of before).

I’ll start the recommendations going! I recently watched Boys in the Band, the 2020 version because it’s on Netflix, and had a blast. Very good film, very entertaining. Another good movie to check out is Pride (2014), not as entertaining but it still scratches that gay history itch that I always get this time of the year. I’d also love to shout out one of my favourite books of all time, They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. It’s a very good piece of queer science fiction, though be warned: it’s very sad. And if comics are more your style, Gender Queer, a memoir by Maia Kobabe, is very good, great if you’re looking for real, relatable experiences, and the art is to die for.

Let’s start this Pride month off right!

[letmewriteitdown]

I've avoided reading Gender Queer written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe for a really long time. Not because I didn't think it would be good or that I wouldn't enjoy reading it. More because I thought it would be painful and make me cry.

I've finally read it, and it is good. Of course, it also made me cry. But I do have to say, it was for sure worth the emotional vibe to get to the bright happy feeling of understanding that came from reading someone else's tale of self-discovery.

The book is lovingly illustrated and gorgeously written. I think what really moved me while reading the story was the sheer banality. That sounds harsh now that I've thought it, but so often when I was trying to come to terms with my gender when I was younger, things that seemed insurmountable honestly were not.

But they still feel insurmountable. Seeing Maia's story laid out, I am certain that the pieces E chose to include in the story and discuss felt big and possibly insurmountable to Em when they were younger. The story talks a little about the joys and the pains of gender and change and I related very very strongly to the images and the story intent.

I've never felt more seen than when I saw the panel on Eir first period and how it felt so very horrible. Just the way it is drawn and how it feels is amazing in explaining how what is inside doesn't always match what is outside.

Again and again Maia captures the feelings that I was told as a child again and again would just go away. That validation and understanding on the page was amazing, and the art just makes everything feel that much more normal.

There were so many things that felt similar to my childhood experiences while reading the story. There were a ton of things that were radically different to my childhood experiences, but it still flowed beautifully.

What I think is done remarkably well here is by taking the small pieces of Eir story and sharing it as part of the larger narrative of self-discovery the book becomes less of a guide how to identify your gender and more of a tale to help others understand that not everyone's coming of age is exactly the same.

I loved how the story included things that were triumphs, but also included lots of questions and different vibes when it came to trying to navigate gender and self-discovery. There are questions and confusion not just from the point of view of our main character, but also questions from friends and family in the story.

I know this book has received a ton of heat and is a challenged book in a ton of places, but I have to say that on the whole it is just a sweet story about finding your way. There are things of a sexual nature, but there are far more things of a personal nature that are more piercing.

I am glad I finally got the courage to read this story, and I'm eternally grateful that Maia Kobabe found the courage to write it.