The first time I entered a gay club, every molecule in my body rearranged itself. I could finally breathe. Soon the hot deejay and I were an item. Some nights I proudly watched her spin records; other nights I stayed home. What did I have to fear? Sure, some cute girl might hit on her. Sure, she might drop a forty-pound speaker on her foot. But basically she was safe. It was the 1980s. Now we look back in wonder, grateful that we never had to fear she’d come home—or not come home—with a bullet in her head.

Lesléa Newman

has created 86 books for readers of all ages including the dual memoir-in-verse, I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father; the novel-in-verse, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; the fully illustrated poetic biography, Always Matt: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard; and the children’s books: Sparkle Boy; The Babka Sisters; Joyful Song: A Naming Story; The Boy Who Called Fabulous; Ketzel, The Cat Who Composed; and Heather Has Two Mommies.

Her literary awards include poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, two National Jewish Book Awards, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, an Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award Honorable Mention, and a Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award. From 2008-2010 she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, MA.

Author’s website: https://lesleanewman.com