What an amazing conference! I’m so grateful to C. Scott Miller and the entire NEA LGBTQ+ Caucus for inviting me to be part of their first LGBTQ+ Social Justice and Leadership Conference since 2019. Every one of the 250+ educators who attended the conference got a copy of my nonfiction book for readers age 11 and up, NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY?, so generously purchased from the publisher Lerner by the NEA-LGBTQ+ Caucus Guy De Rosa Book Fund. I snapped a photo of my book in one of the conference bags, and the sticker they put on the back interior cover!

In this moment of political theater, where our Queer community is under attack (400+ anti-LGBTQ laws and counting across the country) this gathering of Queer and Allied educators made me think most of the Mr. Rogers’ line, about how when things are in crisis, we should look for the helpers. This was a gathering of 250+ helpers, all wanting to help make their schools and classrooms safe spaces for Queer children to be their authentic selves and thrive.

I also presented (twice) an hour-and-a-half workshop, called (and not by coincidence) NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? Let’s empower kids and teens with LGBTQIA2+ History (Okay, us adults, too!)

In my breakouts we covered a lot of awesome material, there were handouts, exercises, and lots of resources – as promised, here’s a roundup:

The Anne Lister Code Worksheet is available as a PDF for you to download and share with your students here.

The NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? Discussion Guide is available to download here.

The recommended Queer inclusive picture books list is:

These picture books are:

• Fitting In
• The Gender Wheel
• Blob
• Sylvia & Marsha Start a Revolution
• My Sister, Daisy,
• From Archie to Zack
• Love, Violet
• Strong
• Kapaemahu
• Bathe the Cat
• Pride
• The Family Book
• The Princess Knight
• Julián is a Mermaid
• And Tango Makes Three

The recommended Queer-inclusive Middle Grade List is:

These middle grade books are:

• Lives of the Artists
• The Fabulous Zed Watson!
• Ciel
• Flamer
• The Witch Boy
• You-ology
• Too Bright to See
• The Civil War of Amos Abernathy
• Heartstopped
• Alice Austen Lived Here

The recommended Queer-Inclusive YA book list is:

These YA books are:

• The Darkness Outside Us
• Last Night at the Telegraph Club
• The Passing Playbook
• Anger is a Gift
• Spin Me Right Round
• I Kissed Shara Wheeler
• Gener Queer
• Jay’s Gay Agenda
• The Loophole
• Hani and Ishu’s Guide To Fake Dating

Of course there are so many more books of great worth – these are just some of my favorites!

And the short film about third-gender Māhū people in Hawaii that I recommend is “A Place in the Middle” and you can find it and much more information about it at aplaceinthemiddle.org

I invite you all to sign up for my newsletter; and for all the teachers who attended this weekend’s conference, if you’d like to do a book club with your students and have them read NO WAY, THEY WERE GAY? I’m happy to zoom in for a 20-minute Q&A with your students for free. Just email me at leewind (at) roadrunner (dot) com.

Most of all, thank you for being helpers, for being “possibility models,” and for doing all you can to create safe spaces for Queer kids and teens to be their authentic selves, learn, and thrive.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges and celebrates the light in you,
Lee