Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
This book is an excellent, diverse collection of speeches made by queer people and some of our allies from across the world. There was a good mix of speeches from various countries (not just the USA, thank god) and from various identities. There are, of course, speeches from well known people like Harvey Milk and Sylvia Rivera, but this book also includes lesser known speeches, like those from lesbian rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, and Geraldine Roman, journalist and the first openly trans woman to be elected to the Congress of the Philippines. The editors of this book made an effort to understand these speeches not just in light of the times in which they were spoken, but also from a modern perspective as well. I took issue with them saying Anna Rüling ‘can lay claim to the archetype of the problematic lesbian.’ What does that mean? There is no archetype of the problematic lesbian. Lesbians can be problematic, yes, but to say there is an archetype is just pure lesbophobia. However there were speeches included from various other lesbians that somewhat made up for that mistake. I would love to see a sequel, or perhaps an extended edition with even more speeches. Overall 4.5 stars, and I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for queer nonfiction.

This book contains many speeches by those in the LBGTQ+ community. Some of these were given by those that I have heard of, as for example, Harvey Milk or Audre Lord. Many others gave me the opportunity to hear voices that were new to me. Each offered me something to think about. All were given by people who wanted their voices and those of their community to be herd.

This book offers a wide ranging collection. It will be welcomed by those in the LBGTQ+ community as well as those who want to educate themselves. All in all, a good selection and a book that I recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto-White Lion Publishing for this title. All opinions are my own.