For centuries, LGBTQ+ histories have been hidden or forcibly erased. To help spotlight inspiring queer figures who have shaped the world, model and activist Jack Guinness created The Queer Bible, a fascinating, enlightening and beautifully illustrated love letter to the queer community. "This is the book I wish I'd read when I was growing up," writes Guinness. "To know where you're going, you need to know where you've come from."
Guinness sought out his own personal LGBTQ+ heroes to write essays about the people who inspired them. Among the two dozen essays, Elton John writes about his friendship with Divine ("I was just as ravenous for my addictions as he was for his") and Graham Norton writes about Armistead Maupin ("a writer who is as engaging, entertaining and inspiring as his work"). These essays often bare the souls of the writer as much as the subject. Guinness's chapter on RuPaul reveals Ru inspired him to create The Queer Bible website and book. "Ru rightfully remains a poster child for misfits and generation queer," he writes. "Ultimately Ru's work is about ripping off the illusions we cloak ourselves in." Other essay subjects include Quentin Crisp, Harvey Fierstein, Susan Sontag, Pedro Almodóvar, David Bowie, the films Paris Is Burning and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and the TV show Queer Eye.
More than just superficial profiles of queer pioneers and heroes, these essays are a clarion call to the gay community to overcome shame and passivity and forge a stronger future. The Queer Bible is essential reading and history. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant