Books | Culture & Community | LGBTQ | Arts & Culture | New Haven Pride Center | Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills | Possible Futures
Adrian Huq Photos.
An array of books ranging from the Netflix-adapted queer graphic novel series Heartstopper to Karla Cornejo Villavicencio’s The Undocumented Americans filled two tables and chairs. We Dissent, the full text of the Supreme Court’s dissent on the Dobbs decision, peeked out from beneath Civil Rights Queen, with a young and wide-eyed Constance Baker Motley on the cover. Wingbearer shared space with Doodleville. It seemed there was at least one title for everyone.
Those titles built the backbone of the inaugural LGBTQ book exchange at Possible Futures Bookspace, located at 318 Edgewood Ave. in the city's Edgewood neighborhood. Hosted in collaboration with the New Haven Pride Center (NHPC), the event brought out 20 people to chat, trade books, and make new connections in a treasured community space. Members of the Pride Center’s Rainbow Elders, a support and social group for LGBTQ+ elders who are over 50, also attended the event.
The premise was simple. Attendees could bring one or more books to offer for the exchange, and take one (or more) home in the process as well. They labeled their books with sticky notes to help prospective readers find new reads to suit their interests and age range. Each attendee left with a book of their choice from the swap, and picked a free new book from Possible Futures’ shelves as well.
Youth browsing books. Adrian Huq Photos.
“The LGBTQ community is precious to all of us at Possible Futures,” said bookspace owner Lauren Anderson. “We couldn’t and wouldn’t exist without the support of our queer friends and family, so it’s a joy to host events that center them and it’s a responsibility that we embrace to show up to celebrate the contributions and to defend the rights of LGBTQ authors, illustrators, artists, and other community members.”
NHPC Youth Services Coordinator Ta’LannaMonique Lawson-Dickerson said that they organized the event out of their love for books and for Possible Futures. Before Pride Month ended, they added, “I wanted to do an event that brought books into the situation, but also community, and created a space for folks to just be able to build community together.”
This year, it joins a flourishing of new Pride Month events from the center, from an ongoing collaboration with Olmo Bagelry and flag raising on the New Haven Green to online trivia, new NHPC community merch, and a fundraiser for the center’s programs.
New Haven Pride Center Youth Services Coordinator Ta’LannaMonique Lawson-Dickerson: “The more that we normalize these things, the better."
Lawson-Dickerson noted the recent uptick in book bans across the country, which have barred material related to Black history and LGBTQ+ identity, particularly from youth. The bans have wider implications on what topics can be addressed in schools, they noted—some students struggle to even have their names and pronouns honored in classrooms.
“The more that we normalize these things, the better,” they said. “A part of that is making sure that folks have access to real books. Books that are written by people like us, people like me. Queer, Black, disabled, all of that.”
Increasing public access to banned books has been an ongoing effort of theirs outside of Friday’s event. “I’ve been kind of infusing banned books into everything we’ve been doing at the Pride Center,” Lawson-Dickerson said.
They cited bringing LGBTQ teen books to an event at Wilbur Cross High School and banned LGBTQ books at New Haven Black Pride to give out for free to community members.
Lawson-Dickerson said they also look forward to hosting more events including both Rainbow Elders and youth.
Rainbow Elder Elaine Kolb.
“I wanted [this event] to be an intergenerational space because I think that we do a lot of stuff kind of segregated…We need to create more spaces where young folks are spending more time with [older] queer folks and talking together and learning from each other.”
Though held on June 30th, the last day of LGBTQ Pride Month, queer joy was by no means winding down at the vibrant store. Greeting visitors at the entrance was a plentiful array of LGBTQ books, mugs, and other memorabilia, all topped with a rainbow flag and a poster of transgender activist and historical figure Marsha P. Johnson.
White poster papers mounted around the store asked attendees to answer questions based on their prior rainbow reads, such as “what book makes you laugh?” and “what’s the book you wish someone gave you when you were younger?”
One of the event’s young attendees was Mik, a student at Yale University who gave only her first name. She heard about the event through others who reshared the graphic on Instagram. A newcomer to NHPC’s programming, Mik was excited to attend the event out of her love for books.
“I grew up in libraries. I had a lot of books I needed to swap,” Mik said.
Taiwo Alonge.
Event organizer Taiwo Alonge, a medical doctor who is currently a resident in psychiatry at Yale University, also praised the book swap. He got involved with the NHPC through Lawson-Dickerson, and is passionate about mental health, social justice activism, community work and organizing, and the social determinants of mental health.
“We are in a world that has, for centuries, particularly in this country, antagonized LGBTQ youth,” Alonge said. “Currently, there’s hundreds of [pieces of] legislation being proposed around antagonizing folks, literally putting lives in danger, preventing them from being able to get access to care that could be life saving or life preserving, such as gender affirming care. All those things have very direct mental implications.”
Alonge also has plans to further mental health offerings at the NHPC. This summer, he plans to invite others at Yale and mental health providers in the community to talk with visitors about mental health literacy, how to get mental health resources, practice both self and community care, how to advocate for yourself, and how providers can be better assets for people.
Alonge viewed support spaces such as those offered at the NHPC as a way to boost the mental health of LGBTQ people. “To create spaces for gathering, I think, is the most important thing to feel safe, loved, and have community,” he said.
Notes from 10-year-old Wesley.
Anderson also nodded to the role of community gathering spaces in the context of the book swap. “Free events are crucial to community building. Books are beautiful objects to swap because they are literal carriers of stories and represent a kind of low-stakes, high-impact knowledge exchange. They also invite people into conversation around content of collective concern,” she said.
Elaine Kolb, who is 73, attended the event as a member of the NHPC Rainbow Elders group. A longtime activist and physically disabled lesbian, Kolb said that being part of LGBTQ elder programming is “almost a new experience” because she spent her life feeling like the odd one out.
“Most of the other people that are with the Rainbow Elders have felt part of a community for years, and I haven’t … but I have felt a part of disability communities,” Kolb said. She hopes that the Pride Center can lead the way for inclusive and intersectional disability justice and make the space more accessible to disabled people.
She added that she is grateful to have found the group and to see the progress made towards bringing marginalized communities together.
“I’m just thrilled that I’ve lived long enough to see things evolve to the point that they are now,” Kolb said. “I’ve been envisioning this for decades. This is what I wanted. It’s finally happening. Yay!”
Possible Futures is open at 318 Edgewood Ave. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 12 to 5pm most Sundays. For more information, visit their website. Learn more about New Haven Pride Center’s programming on their website.