12 Books for Gay Teens Who Have Just Come Out

I sought this book out after having seen the author’s life and activism portrayed in the film Milk and miniseries When We Rise, and it did not disappoint. (To quote my Goodreads review from 2017, “Can someone help me find my heart? Because this book just ripped it from my chest.”) Born in 1954, Cleve Jones was born in the last generation of gay men who grew up wondering if other people like him existed. Turns out there were, as thousands of LGBTQ+ people were drawn to San Francisco in the 1970s, fueled by changing social norms and progressive politics. But Jones’s life in the gay rights movement, including working alongside Harvey Milk, was not without its upheavals, given the AIDS crisis into the ‘80s, same-sex marriage in the 2000s, and the continued fight for LGBTQ+ equality that continues today. When We Rise is the story of it all, and it’s sure to enthrall new generations of gay youth who yearn to understand how we got to where we are.

Agoraphobic Solomon is 16 and hasn’t left the house in three years. Lisa desperately wants to get into a prestigious college psychology program, but is her relentless ambition enough to seal the deal? Having heard about Solomon’s condition at school, she and her charming boyfriend Clark enter his world, determined to become his friends — with perhaps some ulterior motives on Lisa’s part. But as Sol and Clark begin to grow closer, these three unlikely friends are forced to question everything they’ve ever known about life, love, and living authentically.

Tracing the history of the Black gay rights movement from the 1950s through the 1990s, Not Straight, Not White is required reading for anyone wishing to broaden their understanding of what it means to discriminate and what it means to belong. Touching on everything from gay liberation to AIDS, the author does not hold back in exploring how Black gay activists, writers, and performers fought prejudice and racism at every turn, but never letting it affect how much they could accomplish. Including both the famous and unknown Black activists of the 20th and 21st centuries, Not Straight, Not White seeks to educate and inform on the ways in which Black gay men before us have paved the way for social change — regardless of how much further we have to go. A must in a list of books for gay teens.

My So-Called Life meets When We Rise in this heartbreaking coming-of-age tale. In early 1980s New York, 16-year-old Michael enjoys living in the shadows of his best friends: James, a queer performance artist whom everyone wants but no one can have, and Becky, a straight shooter who just wants to protect her friends. Michael knows he likes boys but makes the wise choice to keep a low profile, since his brother Connor was kicked out of the house for being gay, not to mention the misunderstood AIDS that’s beginning to plague gay people. To pass the time, Michael and his friends hang out at The Echo, a dance club where labels don’t seem to matter as long as you’re dancing. But then Gabriel enters his life, and Michael must decide what he’s willing to risk for the chance of a first love.

Instead of getting dirty and playing cricket with his brother, Arjie prefers to dress up as a girl. Funny Boy chronicles Arjie’s coming of age, from his childhood to his turbulent adolescence, where he battles racism and homophobia at every turn. War in Sri Lanka also begins to affect his family’s comfortable lifestyle, which forces violence and soon tragedy into their lives. Combining political and personal narratives, Funny Boy wants us to consider what happens when we dare to live as our most authentic selves regardless of the odds stacked against us.

Saeed Jones’s memoir recounts the narrative of a young Black gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence — into tumultuous relationships with his mother and grandmother, into passing flings with lovers, friends, and strangers. Offering a grand examination into the personal politics of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief, How We Fight For Our Lives is the story of how we both hurt and help each other as we fight to become ourselves.