R.K. Russell, NFL free agent
As LGBTQ people, we declare our life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness against constant opposition. Although we fight restlessly, we still harness the power of love and laughter. For me, that comes in queer literature. In the last months, I have been locked in Giovanni's Room, reworked my life’s color scheme with All Boys are Blue, and learned that I'm not the only Greedy Bisexual Who Wants Too Much. To my LGBTQ fam who feel alone, I urge you to pick up a book by a queer author. Laugh, cry, heal, and smile with us. Our literature keeps us together.
Annise Parker, President and CEO, Victory Fund
Jeffrey Marsh, Author, How to Be You
People think I’m a Rose, but I’m a Dorothy. Again and again, I come back to The Golden Girls. These women helped me feel less alone when I was a kid growing up on an isolated Pennsylvania farm, and the pandemic has deepened my joy over the Henny Penny episode. I’ve only recently realized that I’m a Dorothy because she doesn’t fulfill her gender role “correctly,” and people make assumptions about her value and attractiveness because of it. (Also she has a contentious relationship with her mother!) The Henny Penny play-within-a-play is an étude on inevitability and friendship, and I love it.