The 95 best LGBTQ+ books from the United States

Bodies That Matter is a foundational text of queer theory and gender studies, assigned in virtually every graduate curriculum in those fields worldwide alongside Gender Trouble. It is one of the defining theoretical works of the 1990s in the humanities and remains a live reference in current scholarship.

Another Country appears regularly in American literature, African American studies, and queer studies syllabi at universities across the United States. It is considered essential reading alongside Giovanni's Room and Go Tell It on the Mountain within Baldwin's body of work, and features on most canonical lists of 20th-century American fiction. Its frank treatment of race and sexuality in 1962 established it as a landmark text taught wherever those intersections are examined.

Fun Home is foundational in graphic novel studies, queer memoir, and contemporary comics curricula at the university level. It appears on syllabi in English, gender studies, and art courses across North America, though it does not yet occupy the traditional Western canon. Its inclusion in Time's All-TIME 100 Graphic Novels list marks it as essential reading within its form.

Widely taught in university courses on modernism, queer literature, and 20th-century American fiction, 'A Single Man' appears on Modern Library's list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. While no Open Syllabus data was returned, the novel has maintained continuous academic attention since publication and gained renewed visibility after Tom Ford's 2009 film adaptation. It sits firmly in the mid-tier of the literary canon — essential within its fields, not universally required.

The Price of Salt — republished as Carol — is regarded as a foundational text in LGBTQ+ literature and appears regularly on university syllabi in queer studies and 20th-century American literature courses. It was named to multiple 'best novels' lists, including TIME's All-TIME 100 Novels, cementing its place as a culturally essential work.

The story is widely taught in contemporary American literature and LGBTQ+ studies courses, and the 2005 Ang Lee film kept it in the public eye. It is not yet a staple of the broader canon like Gatsby.

Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.

A staple of Southern Gothic and of LGBTQ+ literature, it is taught in American literature and gender studies courses, though less universally than Capote's In Cold Blood or Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Ranked by literary regard among eligible works in the current catalogue. This position reflects the available catalogue evidence.

Taught in queer-literature and San Francisco cultural history courses.