It’s always a joy and an honor to celebrate Pride Month here at Spokane Public Library. To commemorate the occasion, our staff has compiled a robust booklist of recently published titles by and about LGBTQ+ people, many of them award-winners, all available on our library shelves. Take note of Spokane writer Stephanie Oakes’s The Meadows, which recently won an American Library Association YALSA (Young Adults Library Services and Literary Award), placing her once again on the national stage.
We’re also listing below the events you can enjoy with us throughout the month.
Make sure to swing by the Central Library for the Spokane Pride History & Remembrance Exhibit, curated by Spokane Pride, which is viewable all of June on the 3rd floor near the Inland Northwest Special Collections. The kickoff event for the exhibit is this Thursday, June 4th, from 5-8pm, featuring live performances, inspiring speakers, and more.
And don’t miss this weekend’s event with Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau presenters Lynn Grotsky and Lisa Brodoff, who were instrumental in changing the state and national laws regarding gay adoption rights. They’ve been in a committed lesbian relationship for 44 years and counting. Their presentation, The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Adoption Rights, on Sunday, June 7 at 3pm at Liberty Park Library, is an engaging and hopeful testament to the power of fighting for one’s rights.
You can also find us tabling at and marching in the Pride Parade on Saturday, June 13th, always one of our favorite events every year. More events can be found on the Spokane Pride website. And be sure to follow Spectrum Center, who remind us that there is “No Pride without BLM,” and Odyssey Youth Movement, who will host the wonderful Pride in Perry event with community partners on Saturday, June 27th.
- Spokane Pride History & Remembrance Project Opening Ceremony
Thursday, June 04: 5:00pm – 8:00pm | Central Library – nxʷyxʷyetkʷ Hall
Join us for the opening of the Spokane Pride History & Remembrance Exhibit that will be up all of June at Central Library! You’ll hear from speakers, enjoy live performances, and more. - The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Adoption Rights – A Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau Event
Sunday, June 07: 3:00pm – 4:00pm | Liberty Park – Liberty Park Events
An awe-inspiring and hope-inducing presentation about gay and lesbian adoption rights in Washington State and beyond.
- Spokane Pride Parade and Festival
The Parade is Saturday, June 13th ,
- Virtual Book Club – Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto by Edafe Okporo
Wednesday, June 24: 12:00pm – 1:00pm | Virtual Event (go to link to register).
In honor of Pride Month, join us for a book discussion of Asylum: A Memoir & Manifesto by Edafe Okporo.
- Pride in Perry
Saturday, June 27th, 12-5 PM
Pride Books for Youth and Young Adults
Dan in Green Gables by Rey Terciero and Claudia Aguirre
Fresh Start by Gale Galligan
The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes
The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu
Pride Books for Adults
Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, edited by Lee Mandelo
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife by Francesca Wade
Girl Falling: A Novel by Hayley Scrivenor
Isaac’s Song: A Novel by Daniel Black
Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
Single Player: A Novel by Tara Tai
Terry Dactyl by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year without Sex by Melissa Febos
The Emperor of Gladness: A Novel by Ocean Vuong
To the Moon and Back: A Novel by Eliana Ramage
We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
What is Queer Food? How We Served a Revolution by John Birdsall
