In the late 19th century, St. Louis--America's fourth-largest city--was a hub of robust commerce and risqué entertainment. It provided an oasis for those who lived "in the shadows." Since 1764, the Gateway to the West's LGBT community has experienced countless struggles and successes, including protests, arrests, murders, celebrations, and parades. St. Louis had its own version of Stonewall in October 1969 and is the hometown of icons such as Tennessee Williams and Josephine Baker. A colorful array of activists, drag queens, leather men, artists, academics, business leaders, and everyday folks have contributed to the rich fabric of the lesbian and gay community in St. Louis.

A St. Louis Magazine Must-Read for 2021! WELCOME TO THE “ornate but rickety” Villadiva, whose stained glass windows and uneven floors house more than a century of St. Louis’s queer culture and drama. In a city where “ambition and history and activism and machinations mix with scandal and sex and ghosts and murder,” it’s beneath Villadiva’s crystal chandeliers that secrets are revealed and stories come to life. You’ll feel you’re in the room with provocateur Andoe and his riotous, multigenerational tribe of eccentrics, socialites, drag queens, card-reading witches, psychic mediums, addicts, and promiscuous extroverts--as well as the stalkers, liars, and felonious, headline-grabbing sociopaths who are determined to destroy them. House of Villadiva reveals the heart and heartlessness of urban queer life in the 21st century—and the secret to living through it. Book Review 1: "Chris Andoe writes like he talks, which is a very good thing, because he's one of our city’s best talkers. And the object of his fascination—whether he’s three martinis into a happy hour or three thousand words into a written chapter—is the ensemble cast that is LGBTQ St. Louis, in all its pettiness and pageantry, glory, and weirdness. Sometimes he only records the drama; other times he spritzes gasoline on the flames. But all of it captivates him. Readers of this book can count on feeling the same way." -- Nicholas Phillips, St. Louis Magazine

The history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Richmond, Virginia, invokes a rich but uncelebrated past. From the first recorded sodomy prosecution in America in 1624 to the fight to repeal the "crimes against nature" laws, LGBTs have left their imprint on almost 400 years of history in the Old Dominion's capital. Lesbian and Gay Richmond presents a photographic showcase of the events, people, and places that have been a part of this history. There are snapshots from the 1920s and 1930s when avant-garde and gay authors caroused and shared ideas in private homes. Previously untold stories from the post-World War II era tell of the rise of the gay cafAA(c)s in Richmond and the subsequent attempts by the authorities to shut their doors. Much like larger cities to the north and west of Richmond, the attempts to close these bars led to the first public protests in the late 1960s. Other images show how Richmond has a unique story to lend to the larger national LGBT history.

"This very rare document, the earliest autobiography of an avowed American homosexual, was published in St. Louis in 1901. Claude Hartland grew up in farming communities in southern Missouri, went to country schools and became a teacher, but his sexual drive, pronounced from adolescence, increasingly troubles his conscience. Eventually he moves to St. Louis where he finds work more congenial to his nature and a measure of sexual satisfaction"--Page [4] of cover.

Presents nine walking tours of New York City that highlight places that were important to gay and lesbian New Yorkers, as well the homes of writers and artists

As "outsiders," gay men and lesbians challenge the church to be inclusive of all God's children--the central message of the gospel. "God has drawn us to this difficult place," they write, "in order to reveal God's grace to us and in us and through us." Basing their book on retreats they have presented to churches and seminaries, Countryman and Ritley explore what it means to affirm, not merely accept, being gay or lesbian, as well as Christian. Writing primarily for the lesbigay community, and for their families and communities, they explore the ways in which the gay and lesbian community can appropriate and re-tell the biblical story, and find confidence in their unique spiritual journey and gifts. This proactive and self-affirming book provides new hope for those who feel that it is impossible to be both gay or lesbian, as well as Christian.

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST A transgender reporter's "powerful, profoundly moving" narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states (New York Times Book Review), offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn't changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called "flyover country" rather than moving to the liberal coasts. In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: "Something gay every day." Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.