{"product_id":"real-queer-america-lgbt-stories-from-red-states-9780316516020","title":"Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA transgender reporter's \"powerful, profoundly moving\" narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e(\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e, offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eTen years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn't changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called \"flyover country\" rather than moving to the liberal coasts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eReal Queer America\u003c\/i\u003e, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: \"Something gay every day.\" Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCapturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, \u003ci\u003eReal Queer America\u003c\/i\u003e is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSamantha Allen \u003c\/b\u003eis a GLAAD Award-winning journalist and the author of \u003ci\u003eLove \u0026amp; Estrogen\u003c\/i\u003e (Amazon Original Stories). A former senior reporter for \u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast, \u003c\/i\u003eshe has been published in \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times, Rolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eOut\u003c\/i\u003e, among other places, and has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and NPR's\u003ci\u003e On the Media\u003c\/i\u003e. She received her Ph.D. in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Emory University in 2015 and was the 2013 recipient of the Kinsey Institute's John Money Fellowship for Scholars of Sexology. She met her wife in a Kinsey Institute elevator -- a true queer love story.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Back Bay Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50599785136402,"sku":"9780316516020","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_d88f30d2-70da-481a-ab67-49c21c871742.jpg?v=1732205176","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/real-queer-america-lgbt-stories-from-red-states-9780316516020","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}