Books With GSM (Gender and Sexual Minorities) Characters

As a little bit of a tease, I do have some great news to share, but I can’t share it right now until a certain condition is met–and another piece of awesome news, but the details are still being worked out. On the other hand, I can give you a hint about the latest book I’m working on: this book contains an asexual male. This book is actually a re-vamped version of a book I started last year, so it’s a dramatic change, but one I’m sticking with because I finally want to delve into writing contemporary YA issues-based books. The Stars Trilogy will probably be my last and only trilogy/series.

With that in mind, I have been reading a lot of books along the GSM spectrum, and while I haven’t been able to find any books with asexual characters you don’t have to analyze to know they are asexual, I’ve still found a few golden reads, and I’d like to share them with you. With the increasing attention the GSM community is getting, I think it is vital that people start to read books with GSM characters in order to understand what it’s like living with sexual and gender identities that are neither cis nor hetero.

Now keep in mind that these are all YA novels, because they are primarily what I read, but they still give you a fantastic glimpse of what it’s like for people in the GSM community.

• Luna by Julie Anne Peters. This book involves the story of a transgender teen wanting to transition from male to female. She calls herself Luna (real name Liam). She only feels safe transforming into Luna in the safety of her basement bedroom. This is the first book I read with a transgender teen, and I’m going to try to find others to read as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Freakboy by Kristin Elizabeth Clark. Brendan Chase feels like he’s in the wrong body–but then sometimes he doesn’t. He’s actually gender fluid, and this was the first time I learned about gender fluidity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Safe by C. Kennedy. All Caleb wants to do is protect his boyfriend Nico from his father. This book was actually quite a shock to me, because some scenes were a little more detailed than what YA generally allows. But its publisher, Harmony Ink Press, is about pushing the boundaries of YA literature, do I figured I would throw this one in the list for breaking boundaries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Heavyweight by MB Mulhall. Ian’s crush on Julian Yang threatens to reveal that he’s a gay youth living in a backwater southern town. This book is unique because it isn’t just about a gay youth, but a gay youth who also struggles with an eating disorder. It’s uncommon to find books about males struggling with eating disorders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Scars by Cheryl Rainfield. Kendra is self-harming to suppress some horrible memories of childhood sexual abuse. I chose this book because it doesn’t even revolve around Kendra’s sexuality at all. Yet, near the end, she has a girlfriend, and she never once thinks that it’s unusual. So this book treats homosexuality like heterosexuality, and that’s what I liked about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently I’m reading Tales from Foster High by John Goode, and it seems like the series is going to revolve around several gay youth during their high school years. I might post a review on this when I’m done with it.

I definitely recommend checking out these books. Also check out Harmony Ink Press for more books, because they are about publishing books with teens in the GSM community.

 

The Dancing Writer–Episode 2: Asexuality and Gender Identity

There is a lot of rambling in this. I didn’t have this show as planned out as I thought I did (I did have an outline), but I found myself talking and then going off on tangents trying to get in all of my thoughts. Sexual orientation and gender identity is such a loaded thing, but all my thoughts are out there!

So, yes, here is episode two. I update a little bit on my life, then go right into talking about my asexuality. I also talk about gender identity, mostly how it doesn’t make sense to me, so, for now, I’m identifying as genderqueer. Agender makes sense for me, especially because I think I mention a million times how gender in general just doesn’t make sense, but then there are parts of me that say, ‘Hm…maybe you’re a little fluid.’ And I can’t make sense of any of it. Maybe you guys will. I don’t know, but I promise all of this rambling has a point somewhere.

In the video I say I don’t have a direction for my next podcast, but I actually do because I mentioned it in the first one! So episode 3 (or 4, depending on whether or not I can get the video done first), will be talking about the uniqueness of my witches in When Stars Die, just because that’s a loaded topic in itself.

Also, I didn’t actually listen all the way through this. I figure I’d just keep it as it is, but my personal assistant claims there’s a thumping sound about halfway through, which might be the mic or me bumping my knee against my desk (I get restless real easily). But I’ll try to avoid that next time.

If you haven’t listened to episode one, you can find it here.  I would love it if you subscribed if you’re interested in hearing more of what I have to say and eventually watching my silly videos on silly writerly things.