LGBTQ Collection

This collection includes more than a thousand LGBTQ titles, including everything from young adult and historical fiction to anthologies, classic pulp, and academic texts — many of which are available to borrow as ebooks for free, with a free account.

Want to donate a physical book to make it borrowable? Click for Book Drive info.

You can read or borrow a book if the bar underneath the cover says "Borrow" or "Read." If a book says it is "not in library" or "checked out," a copy might still be available! Click on the book's cover to see if you can borrow one of the other editions.

Special Collections

    » Bisexual Book Awards
    » Lambda Literary Awards
    » Otherwise (Tiptree) Award
    » Publishing Triangle Awards
    » Ruth Benedict Prize for Anthropology
    » Stonewall Book Awards

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LGBTQ Collection Categories

Children & Teens: Board Books | Picture Books | Middle Grade | Young Adult

Fiction: Novels | Short Stories | Pre-Stonewall | Historical | Mystery | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Horror | Romance | Erotica | Classic Pulp

Nonfiction: Essays | Biography & Memoir | History | Sociology | Biology | Activism | Queer Theory | Law & Legal | Literary Criticism

Fiction & Nonfiction by Subject: Gender Identity | Parenting | Humor | HIV/AIDS | Conversion Therapy | Religion & Spirituality | Art & Artists

Other: Graphic Novels | Plays | Poetry | Diaries

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LGBTQ Board Books

For ages 0-4. To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ board books" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Picture Books

For ages 4-8. To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ picture books" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Middle Grade

For ages 8-12. To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ middle grade" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Young Adult

For ages 12-18. To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ young adult" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Novels

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ novels" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Short Stories

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ short stories" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Novels Written Before Stonewall (up to 1969)

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ novels before Stonewall" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Historical Fiction

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ historical fiction" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Mystery

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ mystery" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Science Fiction & Fantasy

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ science fiction & fantasy" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Horror

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ horror" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Romance

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ romance" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Erotica

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ erotica" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Classic Pulp

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ classic pulp" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Essays

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ essays" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Biography & Memoir

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ biography and memoir" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Sociology

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ sociology" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ History

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ history" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Biology

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ biology" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ HIV/AIDS

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ HIV/AIDS" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Conversion Therapy

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ conversion therapy" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Activism

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ activism" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Queer Theory

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ queer theory" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Law & Legal

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ law & legal" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Literary Criticism

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ literary criticism" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Art & Artists

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ art & artists" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Religion & Spirituality

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ religion & spirituality" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Humor

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ humor" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Graphic Novels

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ graphic novels" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Plays

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ plays" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Poetry

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ poetry" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Diaries

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ diaries" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Gender Identity

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ gender identity" and wait about fifteen minutes.

LGBTQ Parenting

To add a work to this list, edit the work page to add the subject "LGBTQ parenting" and wait about fifteen minutes.

How to Contribute to the LGBTQ Collection

You must make an Open Library account before you can edit any work or collections.

Every work has a section that lists relevant subjects.

Feel free to add subjects to books! but please don't ever remove a subject from a work, even if it seems wrong. Just add your own subject to the list.

Add a book to an existing subject carousel

1. On the LGBTQ collection page, find the carousel and copy the subject string. This should be something like "LGBTQ history".
   
2. Search for the work you want (for example, "Gay Berlin") and open the page. If there are more than one result, try to choose the one that has a blue bar that says "Read" or "Borrow."
   
3. Click 'edit' at the top right of the work's page.
   
4. There will be two tabs on the page, one labeled "Work Details" and one for the particular edition. Click on "Work Details" and scroll down to the "Subject keywords" box.
   
5. Add the new subject to the end of the list of subjects, separated by a comma.
   
6. At the bottom of the page, leave a short note. Something as simple as "Added subject" is fine.
   
7. Click save! Wait fifteen minutes and then refresh the LGBTQ collection page to see the changes. Subject changes can take a while because the library has millions of books.
   
8. If you run into any trouble, please contact us. If you're on the Open Library Slack already, ping @Jenner.

Make a new carousel

1. Decide on a topic title, subject, and id tag. For example, LGBTQ Poetry (topic title) LGBTQ poetry (subject), and lgbtq_poetry (id tag).
   
2. Open the LGBTQ collection page and click 'Edit'.
   
3. At the top of the page, determine whether the topic is fiction, nonfiction, neither, or both. Then copy and paste an existing link in the appropriate topic section and change the topic title.
   
4. Scroll down to where you want to insert the carousel.
   
5. Copy a nearby carousel and insert your topic title, subject, and id tag.
   
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and leave a brief note, such as "Added poetry carousel".
   
7. Click save! Wait fifteen minutes and then refresh the LGBTQ collection page to see the changes. The carousel should immediately be showing existing books in that subject. If the subject is empty, follow the instructions above to add a subject to a book.
   
8. If you run into any trouble, please contact us. If you're on the Open Library Slack already, ping @Jenner.