THE OFFICIAL STORY OF A MUSICAL ICON - TOLD IN FULL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS OWN WORDS'In what might be the most entertaining music memoir since Elton John's Me, Boy George's Karma weaves a meandering path through several decades' of fame, success, crash and burn, before delivering him into a kind of autumnal meditative serenity... This is George O'Dowd in all his exhausting glory.' Observer'I went to a lot of trouble to create Boy George and then I went through a whole battle for years about not wanting to be him. But now I enjoy and embrace it in a way that I wasn't able to as a young person.... I'm finally learning to be George Alan O'Dowd from Eltham.'Karma is the definitive autobiography from the incomparable Grammy, Brit and Ivor Novello award-winning lead singer of Culture Club and LGBTQ+ vanguard: Boy George. Told in his inimitable style, Karma tells the story of the charismatic frontman - the drama, the music, his journey of addiction and recovery, surviving prison, meeting legends like David Bowie, Prince and Madonna, and the highs and lows of a life lived in the spotlight and in the headlines.This is the explosive and searingly honest account of Boy George's life as a child growing up in sixties London, coming out to his Irish Catholic family and exploring his sexuality through the hedonism of the seventies - the glam rock and punk rock revolution that birthed Culture Club - and the heydays of the nineties, to finally embracing the man and artist that he is today. With all the humour, honesty, sarcasm (and hats!) that you'd expect, Karma gives us a unique insight into Boy George's incredible story and the true evolution of a music icon.'Culture Club is always going to be one of those lovers I go back to. I've railed against it and that Boy George character I created. For years I convinced myself I was a creature of habit, unchangeable, immovable. But eventually you have to look in the mirror. Not looking for spots, looking for something deeper. Why the hell am I here? I would say life is the point of life.' Read more

**A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR** 'Quite simply, this book is a work of genius' Matthew Parris, SpectatorThe second in a major two-part anthology uncovering the rich reality of life for queer men in London, from the end of the Second World War to decriminalization in 1967In the 1940s, it was believed that homosexuality had been becoming more widespread in the aftermath of war. A moral panic ensued, centred around London as the place to which gay men gravitated. Peter Parker's fascinating new compendium explores what it was actually like for queer men in London in this period, whether they were well-known figures such as Francis Bacon, Joe Orton and Kenneth Williams, or living lives of quiet – or occasionally rowdy – anonymity in pubs, clubs, more public places of assignation, or at home. It is rich with letters, diaries, psychological textbooks, novels, films, plays and police records, covering a wide range of viewpoints, from those who deplored homosexuality to those who campaigned for its decriminalization. This second volume, from 1960 to 1967, shows how key elements in British society gradually changed their views on homosexuality, resulting in the landmark 1967 act by which it was no longer considered a crime if it took place between adults in private. This did not end violence, discrimination and prejudice, but it at least curbed official persecution. Some Men in London is a testament to queer life and its thriving, joyous subculture – a subculture without which the 1960s would have been immeasurably impoverished. Read more

Increasing numbers of people are identifying as belonging to a gender different to that of their biological sex. There's a commonly held assumption that some people are ‘trans’ and ‘born into the wrong body. Most healthcare interventions will ‘affirm’ the person’s preferred gender and help them to transition often in a physically irreversible way.But what if someone who makes a gender transition later changes their mind? What if they regret making irreversible physical changes to their body? What then?This book is about the detransitioners and the desisters for whom gender transition was not the hoped for solution.The people whom society has been led to believe do not exist and who are not followed up by the gender clinics who facilitated their gender transition. But those of us who work with them clinically know all too well that they exist and that their numbers are growing rapidly.This book sheds light on the phenomenon of detransition and gives a voice to the detrans people and the parents for whom transition can impact with devastating consequences.“Beset by scandal and pseudoscience, the edifice of Transgender Medicine is toppling under its own weight. Dr Hakeem provides the ultimate guide to understanding why the current medical regime failed, and how we can build a more sober and compassionate treatment regime for sufferers of gender dysphoria.”Abigail Shrier, author of Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters“By turns touching and heartbreaking, this uniquely insightful book combines the insights of the first clinician to write about the modern explosion in trans identification from outside the ‘gender affirmative’ paradigm, and those of the detransitioners who are its fallout.”Helen Joyce, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality“Dr Hakeem has been deeply involved in working with those with disturbance in relation to Gender for very many years and is one of leading thinkers in this area... he was there at the beginning. This book makes a unique contribution to this discipline... Dr Hakeem brings his long experience and knowledge of that most neglected group - those who changed their mind, 'detransitioners'. Their painful stories have been silenced in the media storm and Dr Hakeem gives them a voice. This book... will be essential reading for all those involved in work either professionally or as carers of individuals in distress in relation to their gender... given the huge storm this subject has created... it will be of considerable interest to the general reader who wants to understand this area from the wise and balanced perspective Dr Hakeem provides.”Dr David Bell, Psychoanalyst and former Governor of Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust“DETRANS is essential reading for anyone who is interested in supporting people with gender-related distress. This is a compelling read. The harrowing stories of the detransitioners are combined with practical approaches that can offer hope... Anyone embarking on medical or social transition should read this. Parents of gender-distressed children should read this. Professionals should read this. Most of all, those people who are lost in transition, who have already medically transitioned and are now reflecting on their situation, should read this as they will come to realise there are many ways to cope with the trauma of an inappropriate medical transition. DETRANS lays bare the shameful behaviour of medical professionals and therapists who perpetrated the notion that medical transition could act as a panacea for vulnerable people. This book brings solace to everyone who has been harmed by medical transition as it heralds the beginning of a new era of truth and reconciliation that has become necessary in the wake of the unhinged excesses of gender ideology.”Stella O’Malley, Founder of Genspect Read more

On a freezing January in 1992, five teenage girls crowded into a car. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. The fifth had been tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. Her name was Shanda Sharer; her age--twelve. When the people of Madison, Indiana heard that a brutal murder had been committed in their midst, they were stunned. Then the story became even more bizarre. The four accused murderers were all girls under the age of eighteen: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Veteran true crime journalist Aphrodite Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history--A tragic story of twisted love and insane jealousy, teen lesbianism, and the sadistic ritual killing of a young Innocent girl. Read more

The No. 2 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER from the author of the No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling Canon Clement Series'Immensely moving and disarmingly witty' Nigella Lawson'Such a moving, tough, funny, raw, honest read' Matt Haig'Beautifully written, moving and gut-wrenching, but also at times very funny' Ian Rankin'Captures brilliantly, beautifully, bravely the comedy as well as the tragedy of bereavement' The Times'Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved'IndependentWhen the Reverend Richard Coles' partner died suddenly, shortly before Christmas in 2019, what came next took Richard by surprise. Despite his years of experience assisting his parishioners in examining life's moral questions, Richard now found he needed guidance himself. Much about grief was unexpected: the volume of 'sadmin' that must be undertaken, how much harder it is travelling solo for work, the pain of typing a text message to your partner - then remembering they are gone. This deeply personal account of life after grief will resonate, unforgettably, long after the final page has been turned.'Astonishingly brave' Dr Rachel Clark 'Brief, wise, frank' Daily Telegraph'Moving and candid' i Newspaper'Massively comforting' Dawn French'Will strike a chord with anyone who has grieved' Independent'Has an immediacy that is not born of long reflection and it is all the better for it' Financial Times'An honest book, and a brave one' Oldie Read more

'Ravishingly beautiful' Observer'Excruciatingly honest and yet vibrantly creative' Irish Times'Provocative and rich' Economist'Daring, chilling, and unlike anything else you've ever read' Esquire'An absolute must-read' StylistWINNER OF THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2021 'A masterpiece. Proceed with caution' Phoebe BridgersIn the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado's engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing experience with a charismatic but volatile woman, this is a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse.Each chapter views the relationship through a different lens, as Machado holds events up to the light and examines them from distinct angles. She casts a critical eye over legal proceedings, fairy tales, Star Trek and Disney villains, as well as iconic works of film and fiction, infusing all with her characteristic wit, playfulness and openness to enquiry. The result is a powerful book that explodes our ideas about what a memoir can do and be. Read more

In this groundbreaking work, Sara Ahmed demonstrates how queer studies can put phenomenology to productive use. Focusing on the “orientation” aspect of “sexual orientation” and the “orient” in “orientalism,” Ahmed examines what it means for bodies to be situated in space and time. Bodies take shape as they move through the world directing themselves toward or away from objects and others. Being “orientated” means feeling at home, knowing where one stands, or having certain objects within reach. Orientations affect what is proximate to the body or what can be reached. A queer phenomenology, Ahmed contends, reveals how social relations are arranged spatially, how queerness disrupts and reorders these relations by not following the accepted paths, and how a politics of disorientation puts other objects within reach, those that might, at first glance, seem awry.Ahmed proposes that a queer phenomenology might investigate not only how the concept of orientation is informed by phenomenology but also the orientation of phenomenology itself. Thus she reflects on the significance of the objects that appear—and those that do not—as signs of orientation in classic phenomenological texts such as Husserl’s Ideas. In developing a queer model of orientations, she combines readings of phenomenological texts—by Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Fanon—with insights drawn from queer studies, feminist theory, critical race theory, Marxism, and psychoanalysis. Queer Phenomenology points queer theory in bold new directions. Read more

LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALISTA transgender reporter's "powerful, profoundly moving" narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states (New York Times Book Review), offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn't changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called "flyover country" rather than moving to the liberal coasts. In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: "Something gay every day." Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more.Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times. Read more

'Bracing, nourishing and wonderfully pro-woman'Victoria Smith, author of Hags'A big-hearted, infuriating, clever and highly entertaining read, just like the woman who wrote it' Kathleen Stock, author of Material Girls'Personal, passionate memoir-cum-cultural commentary' New Statesman'Excellent ... Discursive and engaging' Susanna Rustin, author of Sexed: A History of British FeminismWhat does it mean to be a lesbian now? Has the quest for lesbian liberation stalled, and if so, why?Part-memoir, part frontline reportage and part cultural commentary, Julie Bindel examines what defines lesbian culture, love, friendship and happiness today. She distinguishes the particular challenges facing lesbians from the very different experiences of gay men, and asks: why do lesbians so often seem to face particular hostility? Comparing past attitudes to today, she argues that lesbians continue to suffer from bigotry and discrimination because sexism and enforced gendered roles are still left unchallenged. She explores why many of the biggest assaults on lesbian freedom and wellbeing around the world now come, not just from conservatives, but also from so-called progressives, who are often antagonistic to lesbians organising and socialising autonomously.Rooted in her own remarkable story, this personal and passionate book is both an investigation into the obstacles to lesbian flourishing, and a testament to the particular delights of being a lesbian. Read more

THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER'Warmly funny, dry and mischievous . . . Genuine and brilliant.' Daily MailPaul O'Grady is one of Britain's very best loved entertainers. He is known and adored by millions, whether as the creator of the acid-tongued Blonde Bombsite, Lily Savage, the presenter of the fantastically successful, award-winning Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 or the massive hit ITV show, For the Love of Dogs.Now, in his own unique voice, Paul O'Grady tells story of his early life in Irish Catholic Birkenhead that started him on the long and winding road from mischievous altar boy to national treasure. It is a brilliantly evoked, hilarious and often moving tale of gossip in the back yard, bragging in the corner shop and slanging matches on the front doorstep, populated by larger-than-life characters with hearts of gold and tongues as sharp as razors.At My Mother's Knee features an unforgettable cast of rogues, rascals, lovers, fighters, saints and sinners - and one iconic bus conductress. It's a book which really does have something for everyone and which reminds us that, when all's said and done, there's a bit of savage in all of us...Readers love At My Mother's Knee:'I laughed, I cried, I couldn't put it down and the characters really just jumped out of the page.' *****'Candid, heart warming and also hilarious.' *****'Wonderfully written, laugh out loud funny and poignant by turns.' ***** Read more

Marking fifty years of the founding of an LGBTQ rights movement in Ireland, Reeling in the Queers explores the lesser-known stories of the fight for LGBTQ rights since 1974, beyond decriminalisation and Marriage Equality. From 1990s boy bands to the AIDS priest, Fr Bernárd Lynch, from the Belfast Lesbian Line to proud parenting, from the earliest Pride events to the last days of Alternative Miss Ireland, fourteen distinct moments map the changing social and cultural landscape of Ireland.These stories, from across the island of Ireland – and further afield – celebrate a strong community and its allies, and speak across the generations. Together, they tell a new story of the gains, losses, devastation and community rising from the ashes of defeat. It is a hugely enjoyable and insightful read for both those who lived through this movement and for those who enjoy its benefits today.Drawing from oral history as well as archives, Reeling in the Queers brings even more to life the great big queer tapestry in Ireland. Queer history in Ireland is Irish history and acknowledging and celebrating the light and the dark of it protects all of our futures as much as our pasts.  Read more

"William Tallon was a creature of extremes: though intensely loyal, he was also a dangerous risk-taker; though charming, he could also be vicious; though considerate and amusing, he could be ruthless and predatory. For much of his life he was driven by two demons: a powerful sex drive and an intense, almost pathological love for the Queen Mother…"From humble beginnings as a shopkeeper's son in Coventry to 'Page of the Backstairs' at Clarence House, William Tallon, or 'Backstairs Billy' as he came to be known, entered royal service at the age of fifteen. Over the next fifty years, he became one of the most notorious and flamboyant characters ever to have graced the royal household - the one servant the Queen Mother just could not do without. While others came and went, he remained by her side, becoming one of her most trusted friends and confidants.The fascinating life story of the man who spent more than half a century working for one of the world's most elusive institutions, Backstairs Billy provides a rare glimpse of what the royals really get up to behind closed doors… Read more

The shocking, heart-breaking - and often very funny - true story behind Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.In 1985 Jeanette Winterson's first novel, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, was published. It was Jeanette's version of the story of a terraced house in Accrington, an adopted child, and the thwarted giantess Mrs Winterson. It was a cover story, a painful past written over and repainted. It was a story of survival.This book is that story's the silent twin. It is full of hurt and humour and a fierce love of life. It is about the pursuit of happiness, about lessons in love, the search for a mother and a journey into madness and out again. It is generous, honest and true.‘Unforgettable… It’s the best book I have ever read about the cost of growing up’ Daisy Goodwin, Sunday Times**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY** Read more

'Compelling, funny, intelligent . . . Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a remarkable piece of work.' Kerry Hudson, Observer'Utterly essential queer reading.' Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMB'Deliciously informative and rigorously researched . . . I loved it.' Julia Bell, author of DIRTY WORKWith warmth and humour, Elizabeth Lovatt reimagines the women who both called and volunteered for the Lesbian Line in the 1990s while also tracing her own journey from accidentally coming out to disastrous dates to finding her chosen family. With callers and agents alike dealing with first crushes and breakups, sex and marriage, loneliness and illness (or simply the need to know the name of a gay bar on a night out), this is a celebration of the ordinary lives of queer women. Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a timely and vital exploration of how lesbian identity continues to remake and redefine itself in the 21st century and where it might lead us in the future. Read more

In November 1929, Christopher Isherwood - determined to become a 'permanent foreigner' - packed a rucksack and two suitcases and left England on a one-way ticket for Berlin. With incredible candour and wit, Isherwood recalls the decadence of Berlin's night scene and his route to sexual liberation. As the Nazis rise to power, Isherwood describes his dramatic struggle to save his partner Heinz from persecution. Read more

A collection of 18 in-depth interviews with a wide range of bisexual women of different races, ages, and economic classes involved in a very wide variety of lifestyles. Read more

Sexual Outsiders: Understanding BDSM Sexualities and Communities delves into the unique experiences of individuals in BDSM communities. While misunderstandings surrounding these communities prevail, BDSM sexuality cuts across race, gender, nationality, and sexual orientation. BDSM describes forms of sexuality that incorporate restraint, pressure, sensation, training, and elements of both erotic and non-erotic power exchange between the engaged parties. Some BDSM “scenes” include role-playing, spanking, blindfolds, ropes, and erotic costuming. Sexual Outsiders is designed as a guide for BDSM community members who must wade through the quagmire of unique problems they face: coming out to family, friends and partners; distinguishing abusive relationships from healthy consensual ones; finding and developing community; overcoming shame and denial; exploring whether BDSM sexuality can be a healing tool; gaining access to quality, culturally competent psychotherapy; and finding strategies to develop a healthy sexual self-esteem in the face of current medical and social standards that view them as sick or pathological. The book also serves as an educational primer for those whose partners, friends, and family members are involved in BDSM.In terms of challenges faced by BDSM communities, the most significant is living with a stigmatized sexuality shame, prejudice, discrimination, isolation, depression, and a lack of adequate, competent mental health care. Issues such as coming out as a sexual minority, finding community and partners, and dealing with scenes and relationships that go wrong are some the common experiences shared by members of BDSM communities. Sexual Outsiders employs common sense, good humor, and vivid anecdotes while incorporating basic ideas about human behavior, psychology, philosophy, interviews, history, and clinical case studies to illustrate the real lives and experiences of men and women in BDSM communities. Anyone wanting to learn more about this unique, and more-common-than-you-think expression of sexuality, will find in these pages insight into the various challenges BDSM practitioners face, and the many strengths that people in the BDSM communities have developed in the face of social stigma and prejudice. Read more

Magnus Hirschfeld’s 1901 pamphlet, What People Should Know about the Third Sex, was a pioneering work aimed at educating the public about gender and sexual diversity. Hirschfeld, a German physician and sexologist, sought to combat prejudice and promote understanding of individuals who did not fit into traditional binary gender categories. The booklet was widely distributed, with 50,000 copies in print by 1911, and was translated into multiple languages, including English, Dutch, and Danish. This work laid the groundwork for modern discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation, making Hirschfeld a key figure in the early LGBTQ+ rights movement. Read more

The Annual of Sexual Intermediaries, Volume I (1899), edited by the pioneering sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, is a groundbreaking anthology that delves into the complexities of gender and sexuality at the turn of the 20th century. This seminal volume brings together a collection of essays, case studies, and research findings that challenge the conventional norms of the era and offer a profound exploration of sexual diversity.Hirschfeld, a trailblazer in the field of sexology, presents a compelling narrative that highlights the experiences and identities of sexual intermediaries—individuals who do not fit neatly into the binary categories of male and female. Through meticulous research and empathetic storytelling, this volume sheds light on the lived realities of these individuals, advocating for greater understanding and acceptance.Whether you are a scholar, a student, or simply someone interested in the history of sexuality, the Annual of Sexual Intermediaries, Volume I, is an essential read that offers invaluable insights into the early efforts to recognize and celebrate the diversity of human sexuality. Read more

In BULLISH, ancient mythology meets modern gender negotiation. Inspired by Ovid's Minotaur, a gender fierce ensemble of hopers and renegades try to pass, pack and blag their way out of the labyrinth.JOAN: An earthy story of courage, conviction and hope, this is Joan of Arc. Performed by drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson, history's greatest gender-warrior takes to the stage, dragging up as the men she defies in this smash-hit show.A fearless solo play with uproarious songs about what it means to stand out, stand up and stand alone. Read more