Cultural Resources

Resources

Exposing HBCU students to Black LGBTQ+ culture bolsters resilience, knowledge and pride.  HBCUs have historically served as hubs of culture creation and propagation.  It is hoped that this list of books and films helps expose students to the history and importance of Black queer culture.  It is important to acquire the such tools to educate others among their campus communities and the broader society.

Click to view each level of resources:

Films

• Act of Faith (2006)- Daniel Bree
• Affirmations (1990)- Marlon Riggs
• Against a Trans Narrative (2008) – Jules Rosskam
• A Girl Like Grace (2015- Ty Hodges
• All God’s Children (1996)- Dee Mosbacher, Frances Reid, Sylvia Rhue
• Almost Myself (2006)- Tom Murray
• Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth (2013)
• ALTAR: Cruzando Fronteras, Building Bridges (2009)
• And the March continues! (1997)- Guadalupe San Miguel
• Anthem (1991)- Marlon Riggs
• Arrival (2016) – Alex Myung
• B.D. Women (1994)- Campbell X
• Before Night Falls (2000)- Julian Schnabel
• Be Like Others (2008)- Tanaz Eshaghian
• Bessie (2015)- Dee Rees
• Bit (2020)- Brad Michael Elmore
• Black./Womyn.: Conversations with Lesbians of African Descent (2008)- Tiona McClodden
• Black Is…Black Ain’t (1995)- Marlon Riggs
• Black Queer Hoe (2018)- Britteney Black Rose Kapri and Danez Smith
• Black Rainbow Love (2022) – Angela Harvey
• Body of a Poet (1995)- Sonali Fernando
• Boys from Brazil (1993)- John Paul Davidson
• Boys Don’t Cry (1999)- Kimberly Peirce
• BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017)- Robin Campillo
• Brincando El Charco: Portrait of a Puerto Rican (1994)- Frances Negron-Muntaner
• Brother Outsider: the Life of Bayard Rustin (2002) – Nancy Kates & Bennett Singler
• Brother to Brother (2004)- Rodney Evans
• Call Me Kuchu (2012) – Katherine Fairfax Wright, Malika Zouhali-Worrall
• Check It (2016)- Dana Flor and Toby Oppenheimer
• Circumstance (2011)- Maryam Keshavarz
• Cruel and Unusual (2006)- Dan Hunt
• Crush (2022)- Sammi Cohen
• Daughters of the Dust (1991)- Julie Dash
• De Colores (2001)- Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir
• Desi’s Looking for a New Girl (2000)- Mary Guzman
• Difficult Love (2010)- Peter Goldsmid and Zanele Muholi
• Disclosure (2020)- Sam Feder
• Dog Day Afternoon (1975)- Sidney Lumet
• Dreams Deferred: The Sakia Gunn Film Project (2008)- Charles B. Brack
• Drunktown’s Finest (2014)- Sydney Freeland
• El Canto del Colibri (2015)- Marco Castro-Bojorquez
• Fire (1996)- Deepa Mehta
• Fire Island (2022)- Andrew Ahn
• For Straights Only (2001)- Vismita Gupta-Smith
• Free CeCe (2016)- Jac Gares
• Goodbye Mother (2019)- Trinh Dinh Le Minh
• Greetings from Africa (1994)- Cheryl Dunye
• Gun Hill Road (2011)- Rashad Ernesto Green
• Happy Together (1997)- Wong Kar-wai
• Hearts Beat Loud (2018)- Brett Haley
• Honored by the Moon (1990)- Mona Smith
• How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective (2017)- Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
• Hurricane Bianca(2016)- Matt Kugelman
• I Am Not Your Negro (2017)- Raoul Peck
• I Exist (2003)- Peter Barbosa and Garrett Lenoir
• In God’s House (2006)- Lina Oshino
• Intersexion: Gender Abmiguitly Unveiled (2012)- Grant Lahood
• In the Family (2011)- Patrick Wang
• James Baldwin (1989)- Karen Thorsen
• Janine (1991)- Cheryl Dunye
• Jewel’s Catch One (2016)- C. Fitz
• A Jihad for Love (2007)- Parvez Sharma
• Juchitan, Queer Paradise (2002)- Patricio Enriquez
• Khush (1991)- Pratibha Paramar
• Kiki (2016)- Sara Jordenö
• Kinky Boots (2006)- Julian Jarrold
• Kumu Hina (2013)- Joe Wilson
• La Mission (2009)- Peter Bratt
• Latino Beginnings (2005)- Norm Green
• Legendary (2020-2022)- Glen Weiss and Rik Reinholdtsten
• Looking for Langston (1989)- Isaac Julien
• Madame Sata (2002)- Karim Ainouz
• Major (2015)- Annalise Ophelian
• Mala Mala (2014) – Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
• Milind Soman Made Me Gay (2002)- Harjant Gill
• Moonlight (2016) – Barry Jenkins
• Mosquita y Mari (2012)- Aurora Guerrero
• Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (2020)- Kareem Tabsch and Cristina Constantini
• Naz & Maalik (2015) – Jay Dockendorf
• The New Black (2013)- Yoruba Richen
• Noah’s Arc: Jumping the Broom (2008)- Patrik-Ian Polk
• No Ashes in the Fire (2018)- Darnell L. Moore
• No Regret (Non, Je Ne Regretted Rien (1993)- Marlon Riggs
• Paradise Bent: Boys will be Girls in Samoa (1999)- Heather Croall
• Pariah (2011) – Dee Rees
• Paris is Burning (1990) – Jennie Livingston
• Passing (2015)- Lucah Rosenberg-Lee and J. Mitchel Reed
• Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson (2012)
• Peca Lobank (2008) Poh Si Teng
• Pick up the Mic (2006)- Alex Hinton
• Poly Love (2017)- Michelle Flores
• Portrait of Jason (1967)- Shirley Clarke
• Pose (2018-2021)- Janet Mock et. al
• Rafiki (2018)- Wanuri Kahiu
• Rent (1996)- Chris Columbus
• Rites of Passage (2011)- Jeff Roy
• Saturday Church (2018)- Damon Cardasis
• Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria (2005)
• Sense8 (2015) – The Wachowskis
• Set It Off (1996)- F. Gary Gray
• Shakedown (2018)- Leilah Weinraub
• Shinjuku Boys (1995) – Kim Longinotto
• The Skinny (2012)- Patrik-Ian Polk
• South Beach on Heels (2014)- Dmitry Zhitov
• Southwest of Salem: The Sotry of the San Antonio Four (2016)- Deborah Esquenazi
• Speak Easy, B. (2018)- Becca Park and Jun Shimizu
• S.T.A.R. and Lily Hicks Anderson
• Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen (2008)- Dr. Kortney Ryan Zeigler
• Straight Outta OZ (2016)- Todrick Hall
• Strange Frame: Love and Sax (2012)- Geoffrey Blair Hajim
• Stud Life (2012) – Campbell Ex
• Suicide Kale (2016)- Carly Usdin
• Tal Como Somos/As We Are (2007)- Judith McCray
• Tangerine (2015) – Sean Baker
• Tender (2020)- Felicia Pride
• The Aggressives (2005)- Daniel Peddle
• The Body of a Poet (1995)- Sonali Fernando
• The Color Purple(1985)- Steven Spielberg
• The Gospel According to Andre (2018)- Kate Novack
• The Hunting Season (1989)- Rita Moeira
• The Life and Death of Marsha P. Johnson (2017)- David France
• The Passion of Remembrance (2023)- Mauren Blackwood and Isaac Julien
• The Pink Mirror (2003)- Sridhar Rangayan
• The Salt Mines (1990)- Susana Akin
• The Same People (2019)- Giancarlo Abrahan
• The Queen (1968)- Frank Simon
• The Watermelon Woman (1996) – Cheryl Dunye
• Tongues Untied (1989) – Marlon T. Riggs
• To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)- Beeban Kidron
• Transgression (2011)- TJ Barber, Toni Marzal, Morgan Hargrave and Daniel Rotman
• Transmilitary (2018)- Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson
• Trappings of Transhood (1997)- Christopher Lee and Elise Hurwitz
• Treasure: From Tragedy to Trans Justice (2015)- Dream Hampton
• Twenties (2020)- Lena Waithe
• Two-Spirit People (1991)- Michel Beauchemin
• Two Spirits (2011)- Lydia Nibley
• U People (2009)- Hanifa Walidah
• Viva (2015)- Paddy Breathnach
• Voguing: THe Message (1989)- Dorothy Low
• Woke Up Black (2011)- Mary F. Morten
• The Worlds of Bernice Bing (2013)- Madeleine Lim
• Yes or No (2010)- Sarasawadee Wongsompetch

Film Festivals

• Queer Women of Color Film Festival- https://qwocmap.org/
• Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival- https://www.agliff.org/
• Black Alphabet- https://www.blackalphabet.org/
• The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival- https://newfest.org/festival/
• THREE DOLLAR BILL CINEMA/Seattle Film Festival- https://threedollarbillcinema.org/
• Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Shorts- https://www.wickedqueer.org/events/black-indigenous-and-people-of-color-bipoc-shorts
• Frameline 47- https://www.frameline.org/festival
• Reel Q: Pittsburgh LGBTQ+ Film Festival- https://reelq.eventive.org/welcome
• Get REAL’s Queer Film Festival- https://www.thegetrealmovement.com/queerfilmfestival
• Portland Queer Film Festival- http://www.pdxqueerfilm.com/
• BlackStar Film Festival- https://www.blackstarfest.org/
• Stephen Winter- https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/7582-for-the-love-of-black-queer-cinema-a-conversation-with-stephen-winter
• Iris Prize- https://irisprize.org/lgbtq-film-festival/
• Black Femme Supremacy Film Fest Program- https://bfsfilmfest.com/2021-bfsfilmfest/
• Phoenix Film Festival- https://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com/pride
• Black to the Future Film Festival- https://www.storyhouseithaca.org/black-to-the-future
• Roxbury International Film Festival- https://www.roxfilmfest.com/
• Out on Film (Atlanta, GA)- https://outonfilm.org/upcomingevents
• Queer Agenda- https://mdfilmfest.com/queeragenda/
• Uncaged Film Festival- https://www.capitalpride.org/events/uncaged-film-festival/
• LGBTQ+ Books to Help Navigate Money, Work, & Beyond- https://iliketodabble.com/lgbtq-books/
• Auto Straddle- https://www.autostraddle.com/black-womens-library-challenge-2023/
• Powell’s City of Books- https://www.powells.com/featured/celebrateblacklgbtqia
• Queer Events- https://www.queerevents.ca/queer-corner/all-queer-films
• Muse Dodd- https://moniquemusedodd.com/love-is-the-only-true-act-of-resistance-films-from-qtpoc

Written Works

• Are We Free Yet?: The Black Queer Guide to Divorcing America- Tina Strawn
• Beautiful Bottom, Beautiful Shame: Where “Black” Meets “Queer” – Karyn Bond Stockton
• Black and Queer on Campus- https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/03/16/author-discusses-his-new-book-black-lgbtq-students
• Black LGBT health in the United States : the intersection of race, gender, and sexual orientation- Lourdes D. Follins and Jonathan M. Lassiter
• Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction- Devon W. Carbado and Dwight McBride
• https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/csgd/explore-lgbtq-resources/intersectional/qtpocBlack Girl Dangerous – Mia McKenzie
• Black queer freedom : spaces of injury and paths of desire- GerShun Avilez
• Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home – Leah Lakshmi Piepzna – Samarashina
• Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics – Jose Munoz
• Even This Page is White – Vivek Shraya
• Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures – Gayatri Gopinath
• LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia- John C. Hawley
• LGBTQ Life in America: Examining the Facts- Melissa R. Michelson and Grian F. Harrison
• Mouths of rain : an anthology of Black lesbian thought- Briona Simone Jones
• Queer Latino testimonio, Keith Haring, and Juanito Xtravaganza : hard tails- Arnaldo Cruz
• Queer Love in Color- Jamal Jordan
• Queer Race: Cultural Interventions in the Radical Politics of Queer Theory – Ian Barnard
• Queer Voices in Hip Hop: Cultures, Communities, and Contemporary Performance (Tracking Pop)- Lauron J. Kehrer
• Redefining Realness- Janet Mock
• Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde
• Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me
• The Queer Art of Failure – Jack Halberstam
• Unapologetic : a Black, queer, and feminist mandate for radical movements- Charlene A. Carruthers
• Unprotected : a memoir- Billy Porter
• Walking with Ghosts – Qwo Li Driskill

Websites with lists of Black queer written works/queer authors

• Listopia/Queer Reads- https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/148968.Queer_Books_By_Black_Authors
• San Francisco Public Library- https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/list/share/464094417/1415548987
• Penguin Random House- https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-read-down/books-by-queer-black-authors/
• Shepherd- https://shepherd.com/best-books/lgbtq-folks-of-color-getting-free
• Book Riot- https://bookriot.com/2021-black-lgbtq-books/
• Medium- https://medium.com/matthews-place/10-queer-books-by-black-authors-you-need-to-read-right-now-f4cbbd167c06
• https://aninjusticemag.com/50-free-books-on-lgbtq-history-and-politics-10fb364382c0
• Audible Blog- https://www.audible.com/blog/queer-black-voices
• LGBTQ Reads- https://lgbtqreads.com/2023/02/01/happy-black-history-month-2023/
• BET- https://www.bet.com/photo-gallery/wy51mb/10-must-read-books-celebrating-the-black-lgbt-community/em8e9l
• Publishers Weekly- https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/89935-10-indispensable-black-queer-and-feminist-coming-of-age-stories.html
• Manchester Pride- https://www.manchesterpride.com/black-queer-reads
• Lamda Legal- https://legacy.lambdalegal.org/blog/20200612_25-anti-racist-black-queer-books
• Haymarket Books- https://www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/165-stonewall-was-a-riot-a-pride-month-reading-list
• Pink News- https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/02/09/free-black-history-books-ron-desantis-haymarket/
• Truth Out- https://truthout.org/articles/haymarket-books-will-provide-free-black-history-e-books-to-florida-students/
• The Griot- https://thegrio.com/2023/06/25/10-books-that-center-and-celebrate-the-black-lgbtq-experience/
• Black Queer Book Club- https://www.instagram.com/black.queerbookclub/?hl=en
• Free Library of Philadelphia- http://libwww.freelibrary.org/explore/topic/lgbtq
• Black Queer & Intersectional Collective- https://bqic.net/black-power-book-club/
• Lamda Literary- https://lambdaliterary.org/
• Gay City- https://www.gaycity.org/6-lgbtq-books-for-black-history-month/
• Sonoma County Library- https://sonomalibrary.org/blogs/teenspace/feb2022-virtual-teen-pride
• ACLU article- https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/author-george-johnson-on-writing-black-queer-and-banned-stories
• Marcus Books- https://www.marcusbooks.com/black-feminisms-and-queer-thought
• Michigan Advance- https://michiganadvance.com/2022/09/26/foley-says-book-industry-marginalizes-black-queer-people-like-him/
• The Lesbrary- https://lesbrary.com/black-bi-lesbian-book-recommendations-for-black-history-month-and-f-f-february/
• Queer Books Database- https://qbdatabase.wordpress.com/
• Book Moon- https://bookshop.org/lists/queer-books-by-black-authors
• Best Black queer books, according to Black LGBTQ leaders- https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/best-black-queer-books-according-black-lgbtq-leaders-n1231309
• QPOC Resources- https://libguides.scu.edu/QPOC

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