This month Toledo is celebrating Pride and there is no better time to take a deep dive into the LGBTQ+ women who have helped to shape the fight for equality and justice in queer communities of yesterday and today. 

Chrystos, Poet & Activist

The two-spirit and lesbian-identified poet, artist, and activist of Menominee ancestry has published many books of poems and has been featured in anthologies including This Bridge Called My Back. In her writing Chrystos aims to empower Native Americans to connect with their heritage and culture, to break down stereotypes and expose intersectional issues affecting her people. She won the Audre Lorde International Poetry Competition and received the Sappho Award of Distinction from the Astrea Lesbian Foundation for Justice.

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color

Making Face, Making Soul: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color

Making Face, Making Soul: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists of Color

This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation

This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation

bell hooks: bell hooks (a stylized pen name for author, activist, and academic Gloria Jean Watkins) is a groundbreaking feminist theorist, whose ability to make accessible the complexities of critical pedagogy and feminist pedagogy opened the door for feminist teachers around the world.  In her feminist theory work, bell hooks address race, class, and gender and has contributed greatly to the expansion of the ideas of intersectionality, queerness, and social activism.

Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

Frida Kahlo: Considered one of the greatest Mexican artists of all time, Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, the use of bold colors and the passion she evoked in her work. Born during an age where women were still corseted and bound by Victorian codes of morality, Kahlo’s modern attitude towards sexuality wove itself into her art in various ways and led her to explore themes of infertility, sexual pleasure and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera. Outside of her work, her attitude towards love and sexuality were radical for her time—she disregarded the limitations of gender and instead let herself be attracted to the creative spirits of both men and women.

Forever Frida: A Celebration of the Life, Art, Loves, Words, and Style of Frida Kahlo

Forever Frida: A Celebration of the Life, Art, Loves, Words, and Style of Frida Kahlo

What Would Frida Do?: A Guide to Living Boldly

What Would Frida Do?: A Guide to Living Boldly

Frida Kahlo: Painter of Strength