It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since I took the summer road trip that became Real Queer America. I spent two months on the road, living in motels, meeting and interviewing LGBTQ people everywhere from Utah to Mississippi. In many ways, though, 2017 was a similar political moment to the present: trans people were under attack, people were scared, and it was hard to picture the path forward.
I’ve been thinking about those parallels a lot lately — and about how to find hope for a queer future — through all of 2023 so far, and coincidentally, the very kind folks at Davis Wright Tremaine asked me to speak at a Pride Month webinar that’s happening later this week. The event is virtual and open to the public, so I’m inviting readers (which, if you’re subscribed to this newsletter, hopefully means you.) If you’d like to hop on, it’s Thursday, June 22nd, at noon Pacific and you can register here. It’d be fun to connect as we revisit the book. Things are rough right now, but I maintain the same long-term optimism for LGBTQ rights that I had when I wrote Real Queer America, and I’m excited to share why.