Blog Post
“Queerbook” is Available Now
It’s yearbook season! Every year, a whirlwind of excitement, anticipation, and reflection sweeps through school hallways as yearbooks are passed around. They serve as time capsules — more than just a time of year, its a celebration of the moments that shape us, the bonds that unite us, and the legacy we leave behind.
But what if we could bask in the joy and creativity of a year in the LGBTQ+ community, instead of school? What if we used yearbook season to imagine the future we want to create, instead of reveling in the past?
That is what we’ve done with Queerbook, a collection of short stories, artwork, poetry, photography, essays, and more entirely “for queer youth, by queer youth.” Queerbook was even curated and edited by the organization’s Youth Voices — 10 LGBTQ+ student ambassadors from across the country.
Last year, we asked LGBTQ+ young people throughout the country to answer the question — “What is your Queer Utopia?” More than 250 young people answered the prompt and 86 entries were selected for publication.
Now, for a limited time only, you can own your own copy of Queerbook!
Hear from one Youth Voice on the importance of a book like this, created by and for LGBTQ+ youth:
LGBTQ+ utopia – it is a euphoric feeling. It is a sense of belonging. It is happiness and it is hope.
For most of my life as an LGBTQ+ young person, the phrase “Queer Joy” seemed like an oxymoron. Early on, as I began to accept my identity, I searched the internet for queer love stories, news of successful LGBTQ+ people, and examples of pride. For me, and many LGBTQ+ youth, finding queer joy within our own community may be difficult.
Queerbook is meant for every young person who feels as I did. For any person who is questioning their identity or sexuality, for anyone who is nervous about their future as an LGBTQ+ person, and for those who are already confident in their identity and would like to celebrate it. It is a collection of moments of LGBTQ+ utopia, all written for and by queer youth, meant to inspire and remind us of the happy experiences that await us and the loving community that is more than ready for us. After all, there are so many amazing things that come with being queer.
I, along with the nine other Youth Voices in It Gets Better’s 2023-2024 cohort, had the pleasure of reviewing and providing feedback as guest editors for the submissions to Queerbook. The Youth Voices are a group of LGBTQ+ activists from across the United States who advocate for LGBTQ+ rights through storytelling, writing, art, filmmaking, and much more. As I reviewed the submissions, queer joy jumped off the pages and into my heart – just as I hope it will for you.
This book is firsthand proof that we, the LGBTQ+ youth of America, are optimistically young, proudly queer, and unapologetically happy.
Ellie Zlotnick
Youth Voices – Class of 2024
It Gets Better