50 LGBTQI+ who changed the world

I received an advance reader copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

50 LGBTQI+ Who Changed the World
by Florent Manelli. Introduction by Clare Summerskill.
Publisher: Supernova Books
Publish Date: July 25, 2023
288 Pages
ISBN: 9781913641283
Buy: Bookshop
Borrow: Libraries

I really liked this book. It is published in the UK, but I hope US public libraries don’t miss it. I would have liked to have had this title available to purchase when I was a librarian. The author has brought together a diverse group of people to feature. Unsurprisingly, the book skews toward the United States and United Kingdom, but other countries, including China, Namibia, Mexico, and Sri Lanka, make up a sizable portion of the book. The author also lives up to the LGBTQI+ in the title. There are profiles on transgender, intersex, nonbinary and asexual people, as well as gay, lesbian, and bisexual people.

The drawings add to the text, and a few photos are also included. Profiles highlight the work each did, rather than listing the all the details of their life, which makes it a captivating and inspiring read. The writing is clear and engaging. I would place this as written for pre-teens and teens, but adults would find much here to entertain and inform.

The author does not hide the real world in these pages. There are tragedies here, but there are also many victories.

The 50 LGBTQI+ people featured in this book are:
Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)
Alan Turing (1912 – 1954)
Tom of Finland (1920 – 1991)
Edith Windsor (1929 – 2017)
Harvey Milk (1930 – 1978)
Barbara Gittings (1932 – 2007)
Audre Lorde (1934 – 1992)
Renée Richards (1934 – present)
Nancy Cárdenas (1934 – 1994)
Larry Kramer (1935 – 2020)
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (1940 – present)
Craig Rodwell (1940 – 1993)
Armistead Maupin (1944 – present)
Marsha P. Johnson (1945 – 1992)
Brenda Howard (1946 – 2005)
Jean Le Bitoux (1948 – 2010)
Pedro Almodóvar (1949 – present)
Michael Cashman (1950 – present)
Sylvia Rivera (1951 – 2002)
Peter Tatchell (1952 – present)
Judith Butler (1956 – present)
Rosanna Flamer-Caldera (1956 – present)
Martina Navratilova (1956 – present)
Simon Nkoli (1957 – 1998)
Keith Haring (1958 – 1990)
Chi Chia-wei (1958 – present)
Mark Ashton (1960 – 1987)
RuPaul (1960 – present)
Mary Bonauto (1961 – present)
Manvendra Singh Gohil (1965 – present)
Hida Viloria (1968 – present)
Bamby Salcedo (1969 – present)
Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah (1974 – present)
Xulhaz Mannan (1976 – 2016)
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed (1977 – present)
Nikolai Alekseev (1977 – present)
Yelena Grigoryeva (1979 – 2019)
Xiaogang Wei (1976 – present)
Georges Azzi (1979 – present)
Marielle Franco (1979 – 2018)
Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera (1980 – present)
David Jay (1982 – present)
Linda Baumann (1982 – present)
Megan Rapinoe (1985 – present)
Elliot Page (1987 – present)
Hanne Gaby Odiele (1988 – present)
Olly Alexander (1990 – present)
Hande Kader (1993 – 2016)
Bouhdid Belhadi (1993 – present)
Aaron Rose Philip (2001 – present)

The introduction by Clare Summerskill provides an overview of more people and events, expanding from the 50 individuals presented in the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about our struggles and triumphs over the years.