In “My Bad: A Personal History of the Queer Nineties and Beyond” (Bold Type, 2026), out in May, queer historian Hugh Ryan takes us from the painful purgatory of 7th grade, where his gender was a Lisa Frank trapper keeper, to his experiences with camp, AOL chat rooms, androgyny, coming of age in the mid-1990s AIDS period, Radical Faeries, Burning Man, sex work, 9/11, thruppledom, and much more, amounting to the author’s “attempt at a balance sheet.”
Queer writer, biophysicist, and microbiology professor Joseph Osmundson takes the personal approach with his new memoir “Spawning Season: An Experiment in Queer Parenthood” (Bloomsbury, 2026), also out in May. As the Washington State native writes, “When I was little, all I knew was that I would, someday, be a parent.” So, when longtime college friend Kay and her partner Jamie approach Osmundson in 2016, now living in Brooklyn with his paramour Wesley, it sets a life-changing experience in motion.
Unlike Florida’s Broward County to its south, Palm Beach County isn’t necessarily known as an LGBTQ+ destination, although it does have an active presence, including a community center, bars, and a yearly Pride festival. And yet, if you read Amy Woods’ “Secret Palm Beach: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure” (Reedy Press, 2026) close enough, you’ll find some representation. Full of color photos on glossy pages, the book boasts many colorful characters including bisexual rock legend Janis Joplin, artist Salvador Dalí and “ballet impresario” George de Cuevas (who is mentioned as being gay despite being married to Margaret Rockefeller Strong), and most importantly queer architect Addison Mizner (who is referred to five times, with no mention of his homosexuality), as well as his “precious” pet monkey Johnnie Brown.
Described by “Detransition Baby” author Torrey Peters as “an indispensable thinker when it comes to trans scholarship,” Hil Malatino, an Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studied at Penn State, is the author of “Climbing” (Duke University Press, 2026), which is part of the press’ “Practices” series. Out in July, “longtime climber” Malatino writes about the sport, but also utilizes it as a metaphor to explore a variety of topics including gender, addiction, grief, as well as “the tensions between conservation and recreation.”
Told in his voice, “The Story of Bob: The Life and Times of The Rev. Robert W. Wood” (United Church Press/The Pilgrim Press, 2026) by Steven C. Law, introduces us to Wood, a 36-year pastor at the United Church of Christ, who was also an openly gay man. Filled with “the tensions and ambiguities” of Wood’s “desire to live an authentic life, including meeting “rodeo cowboy/artist” Hugh Macmaster Coulter, with whom Wood had a long-term relationship, making this a necessary read at this time when there is so much division between LGBTQ folks and religious organizations.
