By Shelby Criswell, 2021
This was a pleasant, enjoyable read with a lot of facts about some diverse folks pulled from queer history. I was happy to see a diverse range of figures, some of them fairly obscure and not known to me. But it was a treat to see the details of South African Simon Nkoli’s life, as I met him many years ago and didn’t know what had happened to him since. It was sad to find that he had died relatively young, but he accomplished so much successful organizing for black and working class people in South Africa.
Covering ten figures in a short graphic story is naturally going to mean that the coverage is simplified, especially when a lot of space is also given over to explanations and resources. I would have appreciated more details and depth, but I think the book is intended as a high-level introduction for people new to the queer community, and perhaps their allies. The graphic treatment makes it very approachable, so I’d say that it succeeds in its objective.
I think this would be a good book for American queer youth groups to explore and talk about their history and the issues in their lives. The author’s linking story shows how a young trans man can live a good life even while recognizing the homophobia that exists in his home state of Texas. The strong American focus, though, makes it less useful for readers in other countries.
