Queer Icons From Gay To Z

The LGBTQ+ community is a loving family. As such, this colorful book celebrates our most iconoclastic sisters and brothers (and gender-nonbinary friends) across history. This beautiful book is an illustrated and alphabetic celebration of LGBTQ+ activists, artists, comedians, writers, philosophers, musicians, poets, and Olympic gold medalists. These icons of the queer community have collectively championed civil rights, radically increased queer visibility and provided a means of escapism through their soul-affirming artistry. Just some of the trailblazers featured in Queer Icons from Gay to Z include Josephine Baker, Laverne Cox, Ellen DeGeneres, Keith Haring, Neil Patrick Harris, Marsha P Johnson, Harvey Milk, Martina Navratilova, Cynthia Nixon, Frank Ocean, Ruby Rose, and so on--all the way to Z. Loaded with trivia and factoids about each icon, this colorfully illustrated book unites pop-culture icons of the current day with the activists and revolutionaries who fought (sometimes literally to the death) for the right to be who they are, and the right to love whoever they damn well please.

This illustrated compendium celebrates LGBTQIA+ history and culture, written by and according to culture icon Justin Elizabeth Sayre! Based on Sayre's five-part show in New York City, From Gay to Z is a humorous collection of the rich legacy of gay culture, told through the letters of the alphabet. From ABBA to addiction, hair and makeup to HIV, Fannie Flagg to fierce, Sayre offers their own perspective on the things that have influenced gay culture today, including iconic figures, historical moments, ongoing issues in the LGBTQIA+ community, and everything in between. As gay culture is always evolving and different for everyone, this book does not serve as a definitive guide—instead, Sayre encourages readers to use this knowledge to reflect on the things that have informed their personal identities. Engagingly written and beautifully designed, From Gay to Z is a distinctive and dynamic look at gay culture for LGBTQIA+ readers everywhere. STRONG VOICE AND ENGAGING CONTENT: Sayre's writing is lively, engaging, and rich. The entries have their own style and contain humorous anecdotes, facts, commentary, and more—all told through Sayre's animated yet authoritative voice. BELOVED, WELL-KNOWN AUTHOR: Sayre is active and well-known in the LGBTQIA+ community and beyond. They've been recognized as one of "LA's 16 Most Talented LGBT Comics" by Frontiers Magazine, and their debut comedy album, The Gay Agenda, was named one of 2016's "Best Things in Comedy" by The Comedy Bureau. They host their own podcast, Sparkle & Circulate, where they interview performers, writers, and other creative minds of the LGBTQIA+ community. As an activist, Justin's charity benefit show, "Night of a Thousand Judys," raises money for the Ali Forney Center for Homeless LGBTQIA+ youth and is now in its 7th year. Perfect for: • LGBTQIA+ people of all ages • Fans of Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood • Those looking for a birthday or holiday gift for their LGBTQIA+ friends and family

The first-ever illustrated history of the iconic designs, symbols, and graphic art representing more than 5 decades of LGBTQ pride and activism--from the evolution of Gilbert Baker's rainbow flag to the NYC Pride typeface launched in 2017 and beyond. Organized by decade beginning with Pre-Liberation and then spanning the 1970s through the millennium, QUEER X DESIGN will be an empowering, uplifting, and colorful celebration of the hundreds of graphics-from shapes and symbols to flags and iconic posters-that have stood for the powerful and ever-evolving LGBTQ movement over the last five-plus decades. Included in the collection will be everything from Gilbert Baker's original rainbow flag, ACT-UP's Silence = Death poster, the AIDS quilt, and Keith Haring's "Heritage of Pride" logo, as well as the original Lavender Menace t-shirt design, logos such as "The Pleasure Chest," protest buttons such as "Anita Bryant Sucks Oranges," and so much more. Sidebars throughout will cover important visual grouping such as a "Lexicon of Pride Flags," explaining the now more than a dozen flags that represent segments of the community and the evolution of the pink triangle.

Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these people has been a trailblazer in their field, and deserves to have their achievements celebrated the world over. Be empowered and inspired by their extraordinary life stories, their awesome achievements and their wonder-words of wisdom with this pocketbook of remarkable people, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes.

Who are the most significant gay icons and how did they develop? What influence do they have on gay individuals and communities? This book focuses on the superstars, femmes fatales and divas of the gay celebrity pantheon—Mae West, Julie Andrews, Britney Spears, RuPaul, Cher, Divine, Sharon Needles and many others—and their contributions to gay culture and the complications of sexual and gender identity. The author explores their allure along with the mechanisms of iconicity.

No one raises an eyebrow if you suggest that a guy who arranges his furniture just so, rolls his eyes in exaggerated disbelief, likes techno music or show tunes, and knows all of Bette Davis's best lines by heart might, just possibly, be gay. But if you assert that male homosexuality is a cultural practice, expressive of a unique subjectivity and a distinctive relation to mainstream society, people will immediately protest. Such an idea, they will say, is just a stereotype-ridiculously simplistic, politically irresponsible, and morally suspect. The world acknowledges gay male culture as a fact but denies it as a truth. David Halperin, a pioneer of LGBTQ studies, dares to suggest that gayness is a specific way of being that gay men must learn from one another in order to become who they are. Inspired by the notorious undergraduate course of the same title that Halperin taught at the University of Michigan, provoking cries of outrage from both the right-wing media and the gay press, How To Be Gay traces gay men's cultural difference to the social meaning of style. Far from being deterred by stereotypes, Halperin concludes that the genius of gay culture resides in some of its most despised features: its aestheticism, snobbery, melodrama, adoration of glamour, caricatures of women, and obsession with mothers. The insights, impertinence, and unfazed critical intelligence displayed by gay culture, Halperin argues, have much to offer the heterosexual mainstream.

Public speaking can be terrifying. For David Nihill, the idea of standing in front of an audience was scarier than cliff jumping into a thorny pit of spiders and mothers-in-law. Without a parachute or advanced weaponry. Something had to change. In what doesn't sound like the best plan ever, David decided to overcome his fears by pretending to be an accomplished comedian called "Irish Dave" for one full year, crashing as many comedy clubs, festivals, and shows as possible. One part of the plan was at least logical: he was already Irish and already called Dave. In one year, David went from being deathly afraid of public speaking to hosting a business conference, regularly performing stand-up comedy and winning storytelling competitions in front of packed houses. And he did it by learning from some of the best public speakers in the world: stand-up comedians. Do You Talk Funny?: 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker shows how the key principles of stand-up comedy can be applied to your speaking engagements and presentations to make you funnier, more interesting, and better looking. (Or at least two of the three.) Whether you are preparing for a business presentation, giving a wedding toast, defending your thesis, raising money from investors, or simply want to take on something you're afraid of, this book will take you from sweaty to stage-ready. You'll learn how to: - Craft a story and content that your audience will want to listen to - Find the funniest parts of your material and how to get to them faster - Deal with stage fright - Master the two most important parts of your performance: timing and delivery Ten percent of the author's proceeds from this book will go to Arash Bayatmakou via Help Hope Live until he is fully back on his feet and thereafter to one of the many facing the same challenges after suffering a severe spinal cord injury.

Discover the fascinating stories behind 38 queer icons, all of them ground-breakers, risk-takers and game-changers, and prepare to be introduced to your new superheroes. Whether they are activists, sportspeople, scientists or superstars, every one of these icons is a trailblazer whose achievements deserve to be celebrated.