With anxieties around book bans and classroom instruction at an all-time high, a St. Petersburg book store held a Big Gay Book Party last Saturday to showcase local LGBTQ authors, and offer them a safe space to share their works.
Andi Pignato is the marketing director for Book + Bottle, and said that it’s important to create safe spaces and access to queer literature beyond just Pride Month in June.
“You know you got to do more than that you got to do it all year round. You got to you have to support LGBTQ authors. We’re always promoting them, which is what this event is about. But there’s it’s it’s really about being committed and active and donating. There’s queer expression St. Pete. They hold queer spaces for a lot of LGBTQ people in the state of Florida and in St. Pete specifically.”
Dr. Dani Rosenkrantz is the owner of Brave Space Psychology, which focuses on Jewish and LGBTQ mental health. She says the political climate can be like an energy vampire, but reading books can be a soothing escape.
“I mean, these books that I’m really looking at here, they’re so fun, they’re queer, they’re horror, they’re creative. And they’re written by folks who are coming from our communities. And I think like that’s a way that a lot of people might think about soothing their nervous system like listening to these books or reading these books going on a walk and some sunshine here in Florida. All that’s really important.”
One of those books by lesbian author and New York Times bestseller Kristin Arnett, is entitled “With Teeth” She said it’s mainly about mean gay mommies, and also…
“It’s very Florida family household stuff and like the through-line is kind of what if everybody inside of a household is an unreliable narrator.”
And she said when it comes to hearing unreliable narratives, especially in politics, we should try to read between the lines with empathy and kindness.
“I think that especially when I’m thinking about Florida and a lot of different narratives going on here right now, politics like different kinds of groups like education and like as LGBTQ plus things, it’s like, oh, everybody’s just trying to tell a story that feels authentic to themselves.”
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