What books did I read this year that featured LGBT characters?

Lesbian Main Characters

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

You have it all in here. Female-female cross species relationships, polyamorous families, asexual relationships, species that transition between genders.

 

 

Karen MemoryKaren Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Lesbian characters and a transwoman character in a steampunk story set in a brothel.

 

 

Juliet Takes a BreathJuliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

 

A young Puerto Rican lesbian travels to Portland to take an internship with a white lesbian writer.

 

 

Radio GirlsRadio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford

 

This is historical fiction about the early days of the BBC.  A lesbian executive and her promotion of homosexual writers is a point of controversy.

 

EverfairEverfair by Nisi Shawl

Lesbian main characters and polyamory

 

 

Unicorn TracksUnicorn Tracks by Julia Ember

YA fantasy about an interracial lesbian relationship on a safari looking for unicorns

 

 

Saving DelaneySaving Delaney by Andréa Ott-Dahl

A lesbian couple agrees to be a surrogate and then needs to decide what to do when they find out that the baby will be born with Down’s Syndrome.

 

 

Santa Muerte (The Daniela Story #1)Santa Muerte by Lucina Stone

A time-traveling witchy story based on Mexican magic.

 

 

Ascension (Tangled Axon, #1)Ascension by Jacqueline Koyanagi

Lesbian main characters in a space opera

 

 

The Stars ChangeThe Stars Change by Mary Anne Mohanraj

A terrorist attack on a planet changes everyone’s life in one night.  Many types of relationships here.

 

 

 

Gay Main Characters

Smile As They BowSmile As They Bow by Nu Nu Yi

Gay men and transwomen in Burma

 

 

Two Boys KissingTwo Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Gay men and a trans teenager

 

 

Transgender

Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American FamilyBecoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

 

 

 

This is nonfiction about a transgirl and her family’s lawsuit against her middle school.

 

Secondary Characters

Half-Resurrection Blues (Bone Street Rumba, #1)Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older

 

 

 

 

Midnight Taxi Tango (Bone Street Rumba, #2)Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older

My favorite character in this series is a Latina lesbian but there is also a gay Santeria priest.

 

 

 

ShadowshaperShadowshaper by Daniel José Older

Lesbian teenagers are secondary characters

 

 

Fire Touched (Mercy Thompson, #9)Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

This series has a gay werewolf in the uber-macho werewolf hierarchy.

 

 

Polyamory

The Shadow SpeakerThe Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor

A woman with two husbands leads the main character’s village