Queer Heroes

For too long, queer people - especially queer and trans people of colour - have evidently been considered too marginal to appear in history books. Thankfully, Arabelle Sicardi's wonderful celebration of a variety of queer heroes highlights the lives of some truly inspirational people.

Alongside the more famous figures - David Bowie, Billie Jean King, Matthew Bourne and Rufus Wainwright - Sicardi educates us on a fantastic spectrum of less well-known but important life stories and achievements.

For instance, we get to know Subhi Nahas, who fled Syria, where homosexuality is illegal, found refuge in Turkey and then moved to the USA, where he founded the SPECTRA project, providing lifesaving resources for LGBTQ+ refugees abroad.

Jazz Jennings has shared her life and journey of her transition with the world through her show, I am Jazz, and co-founded the TransKids Purple Rainbow Foundation with her family.

Politicians like Elio Di Rupo, the first openly gay Prime Minister of Belgium, and Johanna Sigurdardottir, Iceland's first female Prime Minister and openly gay head of government, are also important figures that children should know.

As well as being a fascinating read (and an important historical document in itself), Queer Heroes is a beautiful book, with every page illustrated sympathetically with verve and style. Highly recommended.