Final Project: Multicultural Literature: LGBTQ

Introduction

In a world where thousands of books are published a year there are several groups of people who are underrepresented within our literature, especially in children’s and adolescent literature. For my final project I decided to focus on the LBGTQ community, specifying in the portrayal of gay teen characters. As I began my search for rich, quality books that have a gay main character I was quickly enlightened as to the lack of books that are available in this group. After extensive research, I was able to select several quality books that portrayed the gay character in a manner that attempted to avoid stereotypes discussed sexuality in a sensitive manner and had universal themes that are relatable to most readers. After I was able to pick out these books, the hardest part was finding them in a bookstore. I went to several bookstores and was unable to find any of my prospective book choices. This just goes to prove the point that not only is this group underrepresented in literature but when there is good literature about the LGBTQ community, it is rare to find it on the shelves. The three books I chose each have a different focus. One is a children’s picture book that tells a true story of a gay penguin couple, another book is about the struggles of self-denial and finally the last book focuses on a high school student dealing with the aftermath of coming out. Each book brings something new to the experiences of a gay character and provides readers a new base for understanding someone who may differ from them yet may also share many of the same experiences as they do. The three books I am recommending are Absolutely, Positively Not, And Tango Makes Three and Out of the Pocket.