Lesbian > Biography

In 1985 Jeanette Winterson's first novel, "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit", was published. It was Jeanette's version of the story of a terraced house in Accrington, an adopted child, and the thwarted giantess Mrs Winterson. It was a cover story, a painful past written over and repainted. It was a story of survival. This book ... read more

Best-known for her role in Glee, this is the hilarious and inspiring story of how Jane Lynch changed from a real-life Sue Sylvester to the happy and fulfilled actress she is today. In 1974, a fourteen-year-old girl in Dolton, Illinois, had a dream. A dream to become an actress, like her idols. But it was a long way from the ... read more

Artists, writers, activists and critics aged from 20 to 70 offer a vision that is witty, courageous and memorable: a rich tapestry of experience over the past half-century. Includes contributions from Joan Nestle, Leslea Newman, Jill Johnston, Judy Grahn, and many more. As Rita Mae Brown says,

One of the most eagerly anticipated graphic memoirs of recent years, "Fun Home" is a darkly funny family tale, pitch-perfectly illustrated with Alison Bechdel's sweetly gothic drawings. Like Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis", it's a story exhilaratingly suited to graphic memoir form. Meet Alison's father, a historic preserva... read more

The poet, Audre Lorde, depicts her life and examines the influence of various women on her development in this self-named "biomythography".

This title features recipes and reminiscences from Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein's lover a and prominent American expat living in France - and writing about its cuisine - during the first half of the 20th century. Long before Julia Child or M.F.K. Fisher discovered French cooking, Alice B. Toklas was sampling local dishes, ... read more

Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home", her remarkable graphic memoir about her father, established itself immediately as a classic of the genre, being chosen as "Time" Magazine's Best Book of the Year for 2006, while "The Times" called it 'a profound and important book'. Now Bechdel has written another memoir, equally rich and funny, a... read more

Born in 1900 to a promiscuous American oil heiress and a British army captain, Marion Barbara Carstairs realised very early on that she was not like most little girls. Liberated by war work in WWI, Marion reinvented herself as Joe, and quickly went on to establish herself as a leading light of the fashionable lesbian demi-mon... read more

Radclyffe Hall was born in 1880 in Bournemouth in a house inappropriately named 'Sunny Lawn'. Her mother drank gin in an attempt to terminate the pregnancy, and her father fled the family home. At the mercy of a violent mother and sexually abusive stepfather, her life changed when at the age of eighteen she inherited her fath... read more

Natalie Barney,'the wild girl of Cincinnati', and Romaine Brooks were both rich, American and grandly lesbian. They met in Paris in 1915 and their tempestuous affair lasted more than fifty years. By the end of their lives together, Natalie and Romaine had entertained, slept with, fallen in love with, tutored or tortured a ran... read more

Shortlisted for the Whitbread Biography Award 2003 Patricia Highsmith - author of Stranger on a Train and The Talented Mr Ripley - had more than her fair share of secrets. During her life, she felt uncomfortable about discussing the source of her fiction and refused to answer questions about her private life. Yet after her... read more

Finding the Real Me is an extraordinary collection of real-life stories told by a wide-range of sex and gender diverse people. These healing tales of struggle and transformation reveal just how creative, resourceful, and adventurous the individuals in this community can be and also helps to bridge the gap between ignorance... read more

Ruth Maier was born into a middle-class Jewish family in interwar Vienna. Following the Anschluss of Austria in March 1938, the world of the substantial Viennese Jewish community crumbled. In early 1939, her sister having left for England, Ruth emigrated to Norway and lived with a family in Lillestr

Written during a Peter Blazey Fellowship (a memorial to Australia

'This book will haunt you. It will move you to look at some of the harsh realities of life in a new way. A powerful story-and masterfully written' - Aphrodite Jones best-selling author, "All She Wanted and Cruel Sacrifice". 'A harrowing tale of one woman's struggle to maintain a balance between being a mother, an FBI agent, a... read more

The daughter of an unmarried immigrant Jewish garment worker whose family had perished in the Holocaust, Lillian Faderman dreamed of being an actress. Instead she worked her way through college by posing for nude photographs, and by stripping. She slowly discovered that her deepest erotic and emotional connections were to... read more

Born Mandy Rodgers just outside of Geelong, Portia de Rossi is one of Hollywood's most intriguing and talked about stars. Finding early success in the Australian film Sirens, Portia went on to star in the hit television series Ally McBeal, as well as the cult hit Arrested Development, launching her Hollywood career - and even... read more

Beloved and iconic television actress Baxter shares with readers her incredible highs, (working with Robert Redford, Doris Day, Lana Turner, and the cast of "Family Ties"), and lows (a thorny relationship with her mother, failed marriages, a bout with breast cancer), finally revealing the woman behind the image.

Staceyann Chin has appeared on television and radio, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and PBS, discussing issues of race and sexuality. But it is her extraordinary voice that launched her career as a performer, poet, and activist. Here, she shares her unforgettable story of triumph against all odds in this brave and fie... read more

As stubborn as she was gifted, as fierce as she was tender, and notorious for her mannish dress that was provocative and chic in equal measure, Gluck was an artist and a rebel. Born Hannah Gluckstein in 1895 into the family that founded the J. Lyons & Co. catering company, she had passionate affairs with society women suc... read more