United Queerdom

Cover United Queerdom
Cover United Queerdom
© Kate Charlesworth 2019 / © Carlsen Verlag GmbH 2023

United QueerdombyKate Charlesworth

Translation: Hanna Reininger

Carlsen

Reading Extract

"United Queerdom" is headstrong, colourful and personal - Kate Charlesworth draws a panorama of the pioneers of a self-determined queer life and also tells her own lesbian coming-out story. When she was born in 1950, love between men was a punishable offense, and the word "homosexuality" had never once been uttered on the BBC airwaves. Not exactly the best conditions for developing a healthy lesbian identity. Kate Charlesworth has managed to do just that. She combines her queer role models with her own life story and the history of the fight for equal rights to create a firework display of 20th century pop culture. One of the most touching and funniest scenes is when she visits a lesbian club for the first time with her best friend Kate. Charlesworth draws the different narrative strands in different styles so that you don't lose track of this multi-layered empowerment comic. In addition to glamour and humour, it's also about political struggles for equality, such as when the queer community staged mass protests against a law passed by Margaret Thatcher banning people from talking about homosexuality in schools – a unity that has become important again today.