Lavender Literary Society
The American LGBTQ+ Museum’s Book Club is a space for community and connection, bridging generations through the magic of storytelling, and illuminating our history and culture. Art by Loveis Wise.
The Lavender Literary Society isn't just a book club—it's a movement!
Reading and reflecting together on our literature becomes a powerful act of empowerment, a catalyst for change, and a testament to the resilience of the LGBTQ+ spirit. Participants will be part of something extraordinary. In this book club, we’ll not only read, we’ll weave the threads of our stories into a tapestry of strength, resilience, and pride.
The selections will be a mix of popular queer history and memoir, with inspiring authors and iconic guest facilitators coming to you both in-person and online. The pages we turn together will become stepping stones for inspiring intergenerational dialogue and fostering understanding, empathy, and unity. Together, we’ll traverse the landscapes of queer culture, savoring the nuances and complexities that make our stories uniquely ours.
Why lavender?
In the 1950s, during the McCarthy era, state-sanctioned discrimination became part of a national witch-hunt to purge gay men and lesbians from federal government jobs. Dubbed “The Lavender Scare” by historian David K. Johnson, the suffocating climate of fear and suspicion subsequently led to around 5,000 federal agency employees losing their jobs. In the post-Stonewall era, the color lavender became a symbol of empowerment. Lesbians protesting their exclusion from NOW by Betty Friedan proudly called themselves “The Lavender Menace.”
And once you sign up….
- We’ll email you invitations to upcoming sessions. In 2024, we’ll be hosting six book club sessions. RSVP at the link provided to attend.
- The amazing team at Reparations Book Club in LA are providing book club members with discount codes for purchasing the books we are featuring.
- Read the book on your own or in community with one of our partners.
- Join us online or in-person for time with the author followed by a 30-minute Q&A.
- All those who’ve registered for the session will also receive the recording.
- Book club members will receive a free, downloadable bookmark with beautiful graphic designs by the incredible Loveis Wise (they/he), a multidisciplinary artist, designer, creative director, and Capricorn, drawing reimagined futures and playfulness in Los Angeles.
Fall Season 2024 Begins in October
Don’t have your books yet? Be sure to order a copy from Reparations Book Club with the discount code LAVENDER10.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 29 at 6:00p | RSVP Here
Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives by John D’Emilio | Hosted by Mona Noriega
John D’Emilio (he/him) is Emeritus Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author or editor of almost a dozen books including Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970; Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin; and Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, co-authored with Estelle B. Freedman and now in its third edition. His awards include the Brudner Prize from Yale for lifetime contributions to gay and lesbian studies; the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Publishing Triangle, an organization of LGBTQ people in publishing; and the Roy Rosenzweig Distinguished Service Award of the Organization of American Historians. His biography of Bayard Rustin was a finalist for the National Book Award. The founding director of the Policy Institute of the National LGBTQ Task Force, he has also served as President of the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives, a community-based library and historical archives in Chicago, and wrote a book on Chicago LGBTQ history – Queer Legacies: Stories from Chicago’s LGBTQ Archives. His most recent book is Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood: Coming of Age in the Sixties, a memoir published by Duke University Press.
Mona Noriega was born and raised in Chicago. She engaged for the first time with the feminist movement at Chicago’s Northeastern Illinois University in the 1970’s. She then became involved with Latina Lesbians en Nuestro Ambiente (LLENA), and in 1993 helped open the Midwest office of Lambda Legal. In 1995 she cofounded Amigas Latinas, an organization committed to the empowerment and education of Latina lesbian, bisexual, and questioning women in the Chicago area. In 1999 Noriega was founding Cochair and Senior Bid Consultant responsible for bringing the Gay Games to Chicago. Noriega was appointed by Mayor Emanuel in 2011 and retained by Mayor Lightfoot in 2019 to serve as Commissioner and Chair of the City of Chicago’s Commission on Human Relations. In 2021 Governor Pritzker appointed Noriega to Chair the Illinois Human Rights Commission and to serve on the Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes.
Fall Season Book Selections
November
The Women’s House of Detention by Hugh Ryan | Hosted by Jay Edidin
December
L.A. Interchanges: A Brown & Queer Archival Memoir by Lydia Otero | Hosted by Meagan Solomon
Past Book Selections
April
The Risk It Takes To Bloom by Raquel Willis | Hosted by B. Hawk Snipes
May
The Famous Lady Lovers by Cookie Woolner | Hosted by Brontez Purnell
June
There’s a Disco Ball Between Us by Jafari S. Allen | Hosted by Briona Jones
Summer Reading List 2023
How to Live Free in a Dangerous World By Shayla Lawson
Countries of Origin By Javier Fuentes
Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing By Lauren Hough
Your Driver Is Waiting By Priya Guns
Tomorrow Will Be Different By Sarah McBride
Island in the City By Micah McCrary
Cactus Country: A Boyhood Memoir By Zoë Bossier
Kissing Girls on Shabbat By Sara Glass
Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation by Robert W. Fieseler
PS: If you missed any of our previous book club meetings, you can still sign up to be a Lavender Literary Society member to access the recordings of past meetings!
National Book Club Partners
Looking to join a reading community? These bookstores, libraries and LGBTQ+ centers across the U.S. will be participating as Lavender Literary Society partners. And there are more on the way! Contact the Book Club Partner closest to you to get involved, or start your own chapter at your local bookstore:
- Tubby & Coo’s Mid-City Book Shop, New Orleans, LA
- Adam’s Nest, Provincetown, MA
- All She Wrote, Somerville, MA
- Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room, Philadelphia, PA
- The Little Gay Shop, Austin, TX
- Queens Public Library, Queens, NY [Adult + Teen Chapters]
- Bureau of General Services—Queer Division , New York, NY
- Left Bank Books, Seattle, WA
- Kicks Mix Bookstore, Newark, OH
- Museum of Ancient Wonders, Cathedral City, CA
- The Lore – Norman, OK
- Reparations Club – Los Angeles, CA