Pride Month is a time to celebrate the full spectrum of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ+) identities, while also paying tribute to the LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equality. Since its origins as a 1970 New York City Pride march that commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Pride Month has grown into a worldwide event to celebrate self-affirmation, demand equality, and honor the impact of LGBTQ+ individuals on history and culture.
It’s important to continue to broadcast the ongoing discrimination that LGBTQ+ individuals face in the workplace that keeps them from getting in the door for jobs, getting paid equally, and being promoted. There are 27 states that do not have any explicit statewide laws protecting people from employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBTQ+ workers earn about 90 cents for every dollar compared to the median wage for all U.S. workers — and LGBTQ+ people of color, transgender women and men, and nonbinary individuals earn even less. Nearly a quarter of LGBTQ+ Americans have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when applying for jobs. And, while 5.1% of American women and 3.9% of men identify as LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ women hold only 1.2% of senior manager/director/VP/C-suite jobs and LGBTQ+ men hold only 2.6% of those positions.
Syndio is committed to providing solutions that solve workplace inequities so that every employee is hired, compensated, and promoted based on what they contribute, not their identity. To celebrate Pride Month, our team has curated a collection of memoirs, novels, documentaries, movies, and tv shows that share LGBTQ+ voices, experiences, stories, and perspectives. Take a look to find some to add to your summer reading and watch lists.
Nonfiction books
Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs
by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution
By David Carter
Me
by Elton John
A Wild and Precious Life: A Memoir
by Edie Windsor with Joshua Lyon
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
by Randy Shilts
Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color
by Gilbert Baker
We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power, and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation
by Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown
There Will Be No Miracles Here
by Casey Gerald
Fairest
by Meredith Talusan
How We Fight for Our Lives: A Memoir
by Saeed Jones
Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir
by Adam Rippon
Fiction
The Song of Achilles
Madeline Miller
The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Giovanni’s Room
by James Baldwin
I Am Not Myself These Days
Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Written on the Body
by Jeanette Winterson
The World of Normal Boys: A Novel
by K.M Soehnlein
Middlesex
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Annabel
by Kathleen Winter
Tin Man
By Sarah Winman
Where We Go From Here
by Lucas Rochas, Translated by Larissa Helena
Maurice
by E.M. Forster
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
by Mackenzi Lee
Poetry, essays & graphic novels
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
by Audre Lorde
What the Night Numbered
by Bradford Tice
The Black Flamingo
by Dean Atta
Gender Queer: A Memoir
by Maia Kobabe
Documentaries
A Secret Love
Watch on: Netflix
(A)sexual
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen
Watch on: Netflix
The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
Watch on: Netflix
Word is Out: Stories of Some of Our Lives
Watch on: Amazon
The Case Against 8
Watch on: HBO
Paris is Burning
Movies
Tangerine
Watch on: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play
Saving Face
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video
C.R.A.Z.Y.
Watch on: Apple TV
But I’m a Cheerleader
Watch on: Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play
Moonlight
Watch on: Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Showtime
Call Me By Your Name
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play
Pride
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV
Brokeback Mountain
Watch on: Apple TV, Google Play
TV Shows
Queer as Folk
Watch on: Showtime
Gentleman Jack
Watch on: HBO Max
Orange is the New Black
Watch on: Netflix
Sense8
Watch on: Netflix
Queer Eye
Watch on: Netflix
The Fosters
Watch on: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+
Sex Education
Watch on: Netflix
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Watch on: Paramount+, Hulu
