23

they/them, nb+bi

ND (autistic, possibly ADHD? getting evaluated)

manganime: NGE, Fate, HxH, JoJo, Fruits Basket, works of Arakawa, Kamatani, Ghibli, many others (those are the ones im likely to go into a special-interest-rant abt)

LGBTQ+ history, esp in Poland + central Europe

sewing, esp plushmaking (also furby mods!)

figure skating!

before plague: rock climbing

linguistics and language learning

cooking, food chemistry, food history

neurodiversity, self-advocacy, disability rights

Robert M. Beachy - Gay Berlin - Birthplace of a Modern Identity - essential read for anyone interested in any queer history, because a lot of it originates in pre-ww2, especially Weimar Berlin. HIGHLY recommend.

Anita Kurimay - Queer Budapest 1873-1967 OR Sex in the “Pearl of the Danube: the History of Queer Life, Love, and its Regulation in Budapest, 1873-1941 (dissertation) - yes, modern Hungary is shit, especially for LGBTQ+ ppl, so books like this one are so important in reminding us how queer issues were conceptualized in the past and that we've always been there - even in places that are conservative regimes now.

Judith C.Brown - Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy - First chapter has a good overview of conceptualizing of lesbianism in Middle Ages, and then it's a bio of a nun Benedetta Carlini, with her lesbian scandal being only a small part. But what a figure she was, and it's a great story of how a powerless woman would try to usurp power and influence in Church with false mysticism as her only means available.

Joanna Mizielińska, Robert Kulpa - De-Centring Western Sexualities - Central and Eastern European Perspectives - I haven't read all the articles yet, but huge kudos for featuring english-language scientific material abt many countries that you'd think "don't have queer history or activism".

Robert Biedroń - Historia homoseksualności w Polsce w: Queer Studies. Podręcznik kursu (in Polish) - My jumping-off point for creating a Wiki article on LGBT history in Poland (in English). And yes, it's that Biedroń from before he went into politics full time.

Krzysztof Tomasik - Homobiografie. Wydanie drugie, poprawione i poszerzone (in Polish) - Man, Polish literature from the 19th/20th century was so. fucking. queer. This book has so many gays, but also lesbians and bis and even an early 20th century transmasc writer profiled. And yes, so many of them are straightwashed school staples. HIGHLY recommend.

Krzysztof Tomasik - Gejerel. Mniejszości seksualne w PRL-u (in Polish) - this one is focused on Polish People's Republic only and has more insight on societal views and attitudes and representation in media.

Wojciech Szot - Panna Doktór Sadowska (in Polish) - this one is biography of one person, but what a person. Doctor Zofia Sadowska was a goddamn LESBIAN ICON and should be recognized as such. Also the newspaper citations show a lot abt attitudes towards queer ppl in the 20s and I wish I had this book when I was writing a short story set in this period.

nonbook BONUS: Bad Gays podcast, Huw Lemmey and Ben Miller - my personal discovery of the quarantine, so many more or less complicated or straight up evil figures, with extensive context on their background, times, etc. And they said they will be writing a book based on the podcast!