This Book is Gay

Chapter 1 introduces readers to the “member’s club,” Juno Dawson’s tongue-in-cheek euphemism for the LGBTQ+ community. Dawson opens this chapter with an illustration of “Le Club Secret” and a line of people waiting to be let in by a tough-looking bouncer (1). This illustration sets the chapter’s light-hearted tone while introducing readers to the frequent use of illustrations throughout the book.

Dawson focuses on the pressures LGBTQ+ people feel to be cisgender and straight. This pressure is reinforced by a general lack of education about LGBTQ+ issues. Dawson presents This Book Is Gay as an instruction manual for LGBTQ+ youth who lack the resources from school and family to learn about LGBTQ+ identities. Dawson also stresses that the book is for everybody, including LGBTQ+ allies, parents, and cisgender heterosexual people. Dawson believes that everybody benefits from learning about LGBTQ+ issues.

Dawson introduces the idea of “sexthoughts,” which she says are the feelings an LGBTQ+ person has that cue them in on the fact that they are not cisgender and/or heterosexual (6). According to the survey Dawson conducted for This Book Is Gay, over 70% of her respondents began questioning their gender/sexuality before the age of 16. These sexthoughts are often not encouraged by society. This harms LGBTQ+ youth by not allowing them to explore who they are.

Dawson addresses the confusion around why transgender people—an issue of gender identity—are present alongside L (lesbian), G (gay), and B (bisexual)—issues of sexuality—in the LGBTQ+ acronym. Dawson believes that transgender people and sexual-identity minorities face the same discrimination and oppression in diverging from the straight cisgender norm. Banding together under a common cause is a natural conclusion from being oppressed by the same forces in society.

Chapter 2 addresses the various identities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella and what they mean, as well as the choices one can take after having LGBTQ+ sexthoughts. When somebody understands that they are LGBTQ+, they can make one of three choices: They can do nothing and ignore their feelings, they can act on them in secret and avoid claiming an identity, or they can act on those feelings and affirm their identity. Dawson believes that the third option is necessary for finding one’s way into LGBTQ+ identity, community, and pride.

Dawson uses the “identity machine” to help lead readers to a proper label based on their own gender and which gender(s) they have sexthoughts about (18). Once somebody has owned their feelings, they can visit the “Identity Shop” and pick out labels that suit them. This is illustrated by a “Mars Bar/Snickers Continuum” that represents a spectrum of attraction towards men and women (20). On the far left, the Mars Bar is 100% attraction to women, while the far right is a Snickers, which represents 100% attraction to men. The metaphor of candy bars highlights ideas of preference and swapability with labels and identity, which Dawson believes are fluid.

Dawson uses an anecdote from a survey respondent to define the term transgender. Rory is a transgender man who discovered his identity through performing as a drag king. When Rory received a binder, a piece of clothing that flattens breasts, he realized who he was. Dawson ends the chapter by emphasizing that labels are fluid and are meant to be fun and meaningful. Picking a label once doesn’t lock a person into an identity for life.

Chapter 3 explores the possible biological reasons for LGBTQ+ identities. Dawson is skeptical of “biological determinism,” which is the idea that the basics of our biology (DNA, hormones, etc.) determine everything about who we are (43). Dawson believes these theories are “half-convincing” and that excuses aren’t needed to justify LGBTQ+ existence (36). Nonetheless, Dawson provides these scientific theories and studies since biology is often brought up to argue against LGBTQ+ experiences. Dawson lists a plethora of potential explanations. A study shows that identical twins are much more likely to both be LGBTQ+ if one is LGBTQ+. There is the possibility of chromosome linkage between mothers and gay sons, and prenatal hormones are another possible explanation.

Dawson is skeptical about such explanations because LGBTQ+ people can have cisgender and heterosexual children. This means that LGBTQ+ identity can’t be boiled down to hereditary traits. Science remains uncertain on the topic, but Dawson stresses that this doesn’t invalidate LGBTQ+ existence. The chapter ends with an illustration of things that we know do not make somebody gay, like enjoying musical theater or boys playing with dolls.