The American LGBTQ+ Museum

EVENT DETAILS

Join us in Newark, NJ for the American LGBTQ+ Museum’s Lavender Literary Society Book Club at Project for Empty Space! This author talk is centered on Queer Newark: Stories of Resistance, Love, and Community by Whitney Strub (he/him), a vital and illuminating book that documents the city’s rich history of queer life, resistance, creativity, and community. Through personal narratives, archival research, and cultural analysis, Strub maps how LGBTQ+ people have shaped—and been shaped by—Newark, offering a powerful portrait of survival, joy, and collective organizing across generations.

Moderated by Marina Carreira (she/they), a queer Luso-American poet and artist from Newark, NJ, this program invites audiences to reflect on Newark as a site of queer worldmaking and cultural memory.

Together, we’ll explore how Queer Newark: Stories of Resistance, Love, and Community preserves overlooked histories, honors local voices, and deepens our understanding of Newark as a crucial center of queer life—past, present, and future.

ABOUT LAVENDER LITERARY SOCIETY

The American LGBTQ+ Museum Book Club is a space for community and connection, bridging generations through the magic of storytelling. The selections will be a mix of popular queer history and memoir with inspiring authors and iconic guest facilitators. The pages we turn will become stepping stones for intergenerational dialogue, 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. This isn’t just a book club; it’s a movement. Reading together becomes a powerful act of empowerment, a catalyst for change, and a testament to the resilience of the LGBTQ+ spirit. Participants will be a part of something extraordinary. In this book club, we won’t just read, we’ll weave the threads of our stories into a tapestry of strength, resilience, and pride.

AUTHOR

Whitney Strub is an associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Newark. In addition to Queer Newark, he is the author of Perversion for Profit: The Politics of Pornography and the Rise of the New Right (2011) and Obscenity Rules: Roth v. United States and the Long Struggle over Sexual Expression (2013), and co-editor of Porno Chic and the Sex Wars: American Sexual Representation in the 1970s (2016). His next book, Films That Explode Like Grenades: Robert Kramer and the Search for a Radical Cinema, will be published in June 2026 by the University of Chicago Press. Whit’s work has appeared in such venues as Washington Post, Slate, Jacobin, Vice, and Temple of Schlock, as well as scholarly journals including Journal of the History of Sexuality, Radical History Review, and American Quarterly. He lives in Newark, New Jersey, where he co-directs the Queer Newark Oral History Project.

HOST

Marina Carreira (she/they) is a queer Luso-American poet and artist from Newark, NJ. A Pushcart Prize nominee and 2024 Luso-American fellow in the DISQUIET Literary Program, Carreira is the author of Dead Things and Where to Put Them (Cavankerry, 2025), Tanto Tanto (Cavankerry Press, 2022), Save the Bathwater (Get Fresh Books, 2018), and I Sing To That Bird Knowing It Won’t Sing Back (Finishing Line Press, 2017). She has exhibited her art at the Newark Museum, Morris Museum, ArtFront Galleries, and Monmouth University Center for the Arts, among others. Carreira works in higher education and teaches Women and Gender Studies at Kean University. Find her on Instagram at savethebathewater.

GRAPHIC

Our beautiful graphic is designed by the incredible Loveis Wise (they/he), a multidisciplinary artist, designer, creative director, and Capricorn, drawing reimagined futures and playfulness in Los Angeles.

ACCESSIBILITY

We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. Please reach out with any questions, requests or needs to info@americanlgbtqmuseum.org.