The late writer bell hooks defined “queer” not as a term about who you are sexually involved with but as “being about the self that is at odds with everything around it.”

As LGBTQ+ rights have expanded, so has the body of queer literature. According to industry tracker NPD Bookscan, nearly 5 million LGBTQ+ fiction books were sold last year, doubling the sales from 2020 to 2021.

However, access to these stories is increasingly under threat. Over 30 states have introduced anti-LGBTQ+ legislation this year, including Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in March. This law bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, restricting books that address these topics. More than a dozen other states have introduced similar bills.

Author Kristen Arnett, who grew up as a gay teenager in Florida, understands the personal toll these types of bans can take.

“Whenever I sliced at my skin, or when I pulled the hair from my head to feel something other than the self-loathing of my secret burden, I needed that frustratingly inaccessible language. If only I were allowed a sentence. Even a word. If I could tell anyone without fear of repercussion, I’d have found relief. I’m gay, I would have said. And the immediate follow-up: I’m gay, and I’m scared.”

For many individuals exploring their sexuality and gender identity, writing can be a vital outlet for self-expression.

Sheila Rae, from Austin, Texas, shared why queer stories have been so important to her:

“I’m a 75-year-old bisexual woman. When I was 16, growing up in Hobbs, New Mexico, I fell in love with the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay. A few years later, when I was in college, I learned the term ‘bisexual’ and discovered that Millay had many lovers—some men and some women. I still have my now-fragile copy of her sonnets as a reminder of how her poetry was a portal to understanding that I am, and always have been, attracted to both men and women. I am out to share my story of eventually thriving despite having been ostracized for so long that I had nothing left to lose. Free at last to be who I am.”