Taylor Jenkins Reid Comes Out as Bisexual, and More LGBTQ Book News

Here’s all the latest queer book news you should know about, including Taylor Jenkins Reid coming out as bisexual ahead of the release of Atmosphere, the surprising bestselling LGBTQ+ books in the UK this year, and the upcoming Heartstopper movie. Plus, Malinda Lo, author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, discusses why book banners are so afraid of sex.

Taylor Jenkins Reid Comes Out as Bisexual

Unlike M/M books, it’s pretty rare for any group other than sapphic authors to write sapphic books, especially more than once. So, it’s not a big surprise to me to see Taylor Jenkins Reid come out as bisexual in a recent Time interview. Reid wrote one of the most popular bisexual books of all time, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, is about to release another sapphic book, Atmosphere.

In the interview, Reid says, “I am very private. So at first, I just sort of let people assume what they were going to assume… It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman, but I also didn’t tell them the whole story.”

She continues, “My attraction to women is a room in the house that is my identity…” and discusses her hesitancy about talking her bisexuality while having straight-passing privilege by being married to a man, ultimately deciding, “Basically where I came down is I can talk about who I am, and then people can think about that whatever they want.”

Malinda Lo Asks, “Why is Sex So Scary to Book Banners?”

Malinda Lo was one of the pioneer voices in queer YA with the sapphic fantasy novel Ash, and her recent queer historical YA novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club has gotten a long list of accolades—and, unfortunately, has been banned or challenged many times in recent years.

In the SC Daily Gazette, Lo writes about how South Carolina’s Board of Education has reduced Last Night at the Telegraph Club to just a few paragraphs of “sexual conduct,” ignoring its literary merit. Lo argues that YA authors need to be able to write about sexuality, saying,

“Reading about sex and sexuality is just about the safest way possible for a young adult to gain insight into what sex means. It is such a complex and important part of life. We cannot become who we are without the freedom to explore our choices in the privacy of our own minds.

That is what reading gives us: the freedom to imagine different possibilities.

I believe it’s that freedom to imagine that is so frightening to those who seek to ban books. Banning books that include descriptions of ‘sexual conduct’ is an attempt to curtail individual freedom in our own bodies and minds.”

I absolutely agree. That’s why I wrote the post Sex in Young Adult Books Is Age Appropriate. How can we say it’s not “age appropriate” for sex to be mentioned in YA books when 55% of American teenagers have had sex by the time they’re 18, and 29% are sexually active? Teens deserve to read books that are relevant to them, including age-appropriate discussion of sex.

You Won’t Guess the #1 Bestselling LGBTQ+ Book in the UK This Year

I had to do a double take when I saw this Bookseller list of the bestselling LGBTQ+ books of the past year—and not just because they made the headline “Pay for gay?” The knowledge that this is just the bestselling LGBTQ+ books in the UK made it somewhat less confusing, but only slightly, because I could not have named the #1 bestseller if you gave me a thousand attempts.

Want to try? Don’t scroll down until you’ve thought of a title (or ten, or a hundred—I can almost guarantee it won’t be included).

Got your guess? Was it Pinch of Nom: Air Fryer by wife-and-wife couple Kay and Kate Allinson? Mine sure wasn’t. And #2 is Pinch of Nom: All in One. #3 is Wicked by Gregory Maguire, which does have a gay author, but isn’t queer in content—unless you’re asking the Glinda/Elphaba shippers.

Other titles include The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Faebound by Saara El-Arifi, and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

Heartstopper is Getting a Movie (But Not a Fourth Season)

In case you missed it, Netflix has announced it’s not giving Heartstopper a final season (season 4). Booooo! This is just the latest in a long line of queer shows that deserved better. Heartstopper is one of the most beloved shows on Netflix and its recent season has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, but even it couldn’t get a complete arc to match the graphic novels. The good news is that at least it’s getting a conclusion of some sort in the form of a movie. It’s based on the upcoming Heartstopper Volume 6, and filming begins summer 2025. The release date has not yet been announced.

…And More LGBTQ Book News

And finally, a little bit of queer book news potpourri:

The School Library Journal reviews the books at the center of the recent Supreme Court case.

LGBTQ Reads has been busy putting out queer book lists for holidays and recognition months, including AAPI Heritage Month, Agender Pride Day, and Pan Visibility Day.

Check out author Jae’s blog for the chance to win sapphic books all through Pride Month. It’s like a sapphic book advent calendar!