Life Stories
Discover inspiring life stories by and about LGBTQ+ Jewish people. From scholarly biographies to candid memoirs, there is something for everyone. These stories illuminate the lives of unsung pioneers and activists; artists and writers whose identities shaped their creative work; and those who have struggled to survive and thrive in the most challenging circumstances.
Looking for more? Explore the Library's catalog by combining these keywords:
Jews Jewish Judaism
Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Gender Identity Intersex Queer
Biography Memoir Autobiography
Check out the BC Jewish Queer and Trans Oral History Project for more inspiring stories. For more reading suggestions, including fiction, see Queer Jewish Narratives (LGBTQIA+ Reads) from the Jewish Book Council.
Biographies
Barney Frank: the story of America's only left-handed, gay, Jewish congressman by ISBN: 9781558497214Publication Date: 2009
Charlotte Wolff (1897-1986) : Ärztin, Psychotherapeutin, Wissenschaftlerin und Schriftstellerin by ISBN: 9783938485132Publication Date: 2005
Days of Masquerade: life stories of lesbians during the Third Reich by ISBN: 0231102208Publication Date: 1996
Double-Edged Sword: the many lives of Hemingway's friend, the American matador Sidney Franklin by ISBN: 9780803211292Publication Date: 2009
Een prooi wordt jager : de zaak van de joodse verraadster Ans van Dijk by ISBN: 9789089759900Publication Date: 2016
German, Jew, Muslim, gay: the life and times of Hugo Marcus by ISBN: 9780231551786Publication Date: 2020
The Italian Invert: Intimate confessions of a homosexual to Emile Zola by ISBN: 9781939594433Publication Date: 2020
The lives of Jessie Sampter : queer, disabled, Zionist by Publication Date: 2022- Magnus Hirschfeld: the origins of the gay liberation movement by ISBN: 9781583674390Publication Date: 2014
Marta Halusa und Margot Liu : die lebenslange Liebe zweier Tänzerinnen by ISBN: 9783955651169Publication Date: 2015
Paper Bullets: Two artists who risked their lives to defy the Nazis by ISBN: 9781643751122Publication Date: 2020
So Famous and So Gay: the fabulous potency of Truman Capote and Gertrude Stein by ISBN: 9781452915661Publication Date: 2017
Theodor Schmidt : ein jüdischer "Apostel der olympischen Idee" by ISBN: 9783955652531Publication Date: 2018
Memoirs and Autobiographies
Becoming Eve: my journey from ultra-Orthodox rabbi to transgender woman by ISBN: 9781580059169Publication Date: 2019
The elusive embrace : desire and the riddle of identity by ISBN: 9780307809872Publication Date: 2000- Forty years in the wilderness : my journey to authentic living by Publication Date: 2014
Frank: a life in politics from the Great Society to same-sex marriage by ISBN: 9780374280307Publication Date: 2015- Growing up golem : how I survived my mother, Brooklyn and some really bad dates by Publication Date: 2013
In This Day and Age?!: a community at the crossroads of religion and homosexuality : my diary of being outed and excommunicated by ISBN: 9781453749210Publication Date: 2012- Mother-daughter banquet by Publication Date: 2019
- My big gay Jewish conversion [film] by Publication Date: 2020
- My father and I: the Marais and the queerness of community by Publication Date: 2009
My Son Wears Heels: one mom's journey from clueless to kickass by ISBN: 9780299310608Publication Date: 2016
She Wants It: desire, power, and toppling the patriarchy by ISBN: 9781101904749Publication Date: 2018
Through the Door of Life: a Jewish journey between genders by ISBN: 9780299287306Publication Date: 2012
Toto, I Don't Think We're in Golders Green Anymore: five butt-clenching-nail-biting-hysteria-inducing years in Israel by ISBN: 9781425978525Publication Date: 2006
Uncovered: how I left Hasidic life and finally came home by ISBN: 9781631529962Publication Date: 2015
Underdog: confessions of a right-wing gay Jewish muckraker by ISBN: 9780771048005Publication Date: 2016
What We Will Become: a mother, a son, and a journey of transformation by ISBN: 9780544965836Publication Date: 2019
