Is Church Watching ‘a Renaissance Of Gay Literature’ Marking A Turning Point For Publishing?

Florida banned more books in 2023 than any other state. And more than 95% of library removal is over LGBTQ+ themes pushed by evangelical Christian organizations. But 2024 starts with some hope of a sort of renaissance of gay literature. Queer 25 year old author Jenny Fran Davis book the unapologetically titled “Dykette” became one of the most buzzworthy titles of 2023. Davis told NBC News “This book really came along at a time where we’re in this renaissance of gay literature. There was an immediate audience that wanted to accept it with open arms. There was a receptiveness that I don’t know would have been there five years before, Just the title alone would have been scarier for publishers even five or 10 years ago.” According to industry experts this queer renaissance started in 2019. 2023 sales of LGBTQ+ books is 7% year over year and 200% since 2019. Compare that with all fiction books of down 3% year over year and 22% over the last four years. Kristen McLean, a leading book industry analyst with Circana says queer fiction titles are thriving specifically because of a backdrop of record attempts to censor works by and about the LGBTQ+ community. McLean said that fiction books carrying an LGBTQ+ tag are causing record numbers. McLean notes “we see growth in fantasy, in general fiction, in sci-fi, and that really speaks to the richness of the story world and the fact that these things are cross-pollinating.” Suzi F. Garcia, editor of the LGBTQ+ nonprofit Lambda Literary explains even bookstore aisles are starting to look different because of the way queer themes are appearing in a variety of texts. She says “As access to these kinds of books has grown, we’re seeing more nuances come forward. So it’s not just an LGBTQ shelf in a bookstore anymore. They’re taking up room on every shelf.” In other words, as the library's censor, in store and online bookstores are booming for LGBTQ+ books. TikTok and a corner there called BookTok are also hugely driving queer experiences. The impacts of this new literary trend contrast traditional churches. Romance literature with LGBTQ+ themes is growing fast despite evangelical rejection. Booksellers, like Leah Koch, co-owner of the bicoastal bookstore ‘The Ripped Bodice says “People age into the romance genre every year, but this happened a lot more rapidly. All of them just joined at once, basically. It’s a new generation’s form of a book club.” Literary success of LGBTQ+ themes flies directly in the face of traditional anti-LGBTQ+ Christian messages. And that growth is accelerating. Kendall Storey, Editor-in-chief at Catapult noted “... almost half of Catapult’s 10 bestsellers from last year were LGBTQ titles, up from just one in 2021.”