PEOPLE EXCLUSIVE. In honor of the release of EXQUISITE THINGS today, I wrote a little something for a magazine that’s older than I am ha. I think it’s pretty important and hope you agree (but will fight for your right to disagree ‘cause I still believe in free speech, sigh). An excerpt:
“Wilde, a banned writer himself, is credited with saying, ‘Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.’ That is what book bans are about: Power. Who gets to tell their stories? Whose perspective is history told from? Who is shame weaponized against? We must address these questions before it’s too late, because as history teaches us, book bans are a chilling signal of where a society is headed. A government that bans books, as we’ve seen, is one that seeks to control higher education, dismantles public health, deports innocent people, turns protest into crime, deploys the military against its own citizens. The forces of power want to shame us into hiding. We can’t let that happen.”
Song is from @leoniepernet ’s new album, hands down one of my favorites of the year. Get into it ❤️
Happy Banned Books Week!! A truly special time in the land of the free. You have one week to celebrate. Tell an author they’re disgusting, objectionable, indecent, threaten them. Fun! Tell queer immigrants to go back to their birth countries where they’ll be killed. Yay! Make sure marginalized young people feel all that beautiful non-woke stigma and shame again! Pull books off library shelves, out of schools, throw out every book in your home if you still read (statistics say you don’t). Books are tools for empathy and we all know how dangerous empathy is. And don’t stop at books. Go after all the arts, all the humanities, we cannot have a world of cultural understanding and critical thinking. Empathy bad, fear good. Now go blow out some candles for banned books, or better yet, use the candles to burn some literature before this special holiday ends. #blessed
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oh and follow @authorsagainstbookbans please
Well this was wild. A whole MSNBC segment on LIKE A LOVE STORY. I got to bring my kids, a proud parent moment. I wore a shirt from my early 1990s high school queer club SMAC, a full circle moment. Back then we didn’t know what the future would hold. I’m grateful it holds this. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of this book’s journey. Thank you to MSNBC and to Ali Velshi for having me and for shining a light on banned books. Fight authoritarianism wherever you see it. Create community however you can. Keep creating beauty ❤️❤️🙏🏽🙏🏽
IT’S NOT LIKE THAT is now streaming globally on Prime Video. Variety says the show is “refreshingly raw” and “a breath of fresh air.” If you love and miss heartwarming family shows like Parenthood, Once and Again, and Friday Night Lights (as I do), this show is a space for you. Ian Deitchman & Kristin Robinson created magic and I’m so honored they invited me to be a part of it alongside the best group of writers: Danielle DiPaolo, Jesikah Suggs, Adria Baratta. All stars, as are the cast, crew, producers, some of whom are pictured here. Watch it. Laugh. Weep. Look out for the Lana Del Rey joke that somehow made it through the development process. And don’t miss the soundtrack, which includes “Space for You,” a gorgeous song by Brooke Alexx and Kipper Gray. It’s very special to me because it was inspired by a poem I wrote from the perspective of a teenage pastor’s daughter (hi Tori Amos), and it’s performed so beautifully in the show by Leven Miranda ❤️
Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing the winners and finalists of the Unseen Iran Artist Grants. Today we’re excited to introduce Abdi Nazemian and Arian Saleh.
With support from the Unseen Iran Artist Grants, Abdi and Arian are currently developing “Only This Beautiful Moment,” a musical. Swipe to learn more!
#iranianartist #musical #supportartists
Last weekend was full: Yallwest, Madonna, Lily Allen. A big thank you to everyone who brought the book love at Yallwest. First photo is me with David Levithan and Gabriel Duckels. Their book THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES - a history of the AIDS crisis in the U.S written for young adult readers - is out now. My own YA novel LIKE A LOVE STORY about HIV/AIDS, ACT UP (and yes Madonna) has been widely banned. In the years since that book came out, I’ve had countless conversations with young and old(er) readers that have made me realize how vital it is that we keep sharing this history. From meeting teenagers who hadn’t even heard the words HIV or AIDS, to facing the bigotry of book banners, to talking to a young person who found out her uncle died of AIDS complications after discussing the book with her father, I’ve experienced firsthand the damage of stigma and the beauty of communication. The crisis isn’t over, and with the U.S. government decimating public health funding for HIV/AIDS (and all public health, let’s be real), the crisis will only get worse if we don’t do our part educating our youth so they can reject stigma, protect themselves and learn from history. I hope you read these books. There are other brilliant young adult books about HIV/AIDS as well, including but not limited to Full Disclosure by @camryngwrites , We Are Lost and Found by @helenedunbar , When You Call My Name by @tuckershaw , Destination Unknown by @bkonigsberg , and of course, the all-time classic that was one of the reasons I chose to start writing YA, Two Boys Kissing by THEE David Levithan. Read these books. Gift them. Share our history. And follow @authorsagainstbookbans please 🙏🏽
To be in her presence is magic. To be inches away from her in a crush of sweaty queers who have been saved-shaped-inspired by her is spiritual. I first saw her when I was an 8 year old discovering my passions. Again as a 13 year old in need of the celebratory queerness she beamed into my life when the rest of the world was hurling stigma. And again & again & again. In post 9/11 America, she was there onstage as her audience chanted USAUSA, shutting them down and telling them to think globally and look within. She’s always been there. Her survival feels linked to the survival of our community. When she left the DJ booth there were so many hugs from people experiencing the same emotions, a feeling in the air of how far we’ve come and how much defiant love we still have in our broken hopeful hearts. I’m forever grateful to Madonna for creating a safe space for us, empowering us, and for keeping us dancing no matter how dark the world feels.
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Biggest thanks to my husband @aubryla1 for making sure we were in the room where it happened. Took too many photos of M, not enough with friends. So good to see you @bradcomfort@matthew_scott_montgomery@designerguru@ariyaghahramani@joaodallstella & many more ❤️
Come on, meet me at the book festival. LA, 3 chances to come say hi in the next month.
First: LA Times Festival of Books. 4/19. HarperCollins booth at noon. @farhangfoundation booth at 1pm.
Next: Yallwest. April 25. See graphic for my schedule.
Then: Books Not Bans event at Book Soup. May 9. 5pm. See photos for details.
Thanks to Carmen Nesbitt at the Salt Lake Tribune, and Erin Drollette from The Signpost for covering my Utah adventure. And thanks to everyone supporting these strange queer-Iranian-historical-popcultureobsessed books I write. They come from the heart and when you welcome them into your heart, you make me feel so free. First photo is with the beautiful librarians who invited me to the Los Angeles County Library’s Nowruz event and who stocked all these books to gift to attendees. Thank you Toki and Ramin. And thank you Madonna for always inspiring me to keep creating and dancing no matter how dark the world gets. We’re in this together. Safety in numbers 🙏🏽
February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK! 🏳️🌈
Today, we want to highlight ONLY THIS BEAUTIFUL MOMENT by Abdi Nazemian (@abdaddy ), a powerful story that shines a light on queer history in both the US and Iran.
#LGBTQHistory #OnlyThisBeautifulMoment #AbdiNazemian #YABooks
What an honor to speak at Let Utah Read’s annual Read-In at the Utah State Capitol, where my novel LIKE A LOVE STORY is banned statewide in public schools. Organized by a coalition including the ACLU of Utah, EveryLibrary and PEN America, this event was all about the power of community. The acoustics in these video clips of my speech aren’t the best ‘cause we were in a gorgeous rotunda, but this event was a reminder that the most impactful moments happen not in the hopeless isolation technology encourages us to get lost in, but in community, in the bridge-building that happens when we connect to each other across borderlines to create hope and action. I’m so grateful to everyone who played a part in bringing me to this event, and to the crowd who showed me so much warmth. Utahns, love will be your legacy.
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My fellow speakers were so inspiring. Rebekah Cummings: former President of the Utah Library Association, Co-Founder of Let Utah Read, the first librarian to run for Lt. Governor on a major party ticket in the US. Rep. John Arthur from House District 41. McKenzie Compton: 16-year old student & avid reader. Calvin Crosby: from King’s English Bookshop and Brain Food Book (more on them below). Jason Groth: Legal Director, ACLU of Utah.
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Also, Salt Lake’s bookshop scene is next-level. All visitors must visit Salt Lake’s two queer bookshops, Under the Umbrella and The Legendarium. And also The King’s English. Oh, and you should donate to Brain Food Books, a nonprofit that puts books into the hands of those without regular access. They also accept new books so any authors looking to empty their closets of author copies, let me know and I’ll guide you to a great way to make sure those books get into the right hands.
I spent Superbowl Sunday the Bad Bunny way: celebrating my culture. An honor to moderate a talk with Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, the filmmakers behind the BRILLIANT documentary CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, the FIRST Iranian documentary nominated for an Oscar. The film - which tells the story of instant icon Sara Shahverdi (the first female councilor in her Iranian village) - took eight years to make. The result is astounding, compassionate, hopeful, necessary. Everything we want more of - community, connection, inspiration, woman, life, freedom - is in this film. It’s also thrilling to see a film that shines a light on Azeri Turkish speakers in Iran, a vital reminder that Iran is a far more diverse country than most people think it is.
Films like this can change human consciousness but only if people like YOU go see them. Go seek out great art that isn’t fed to you by algorithms. It will heal a piece of you. Speaking of the power of art, I was introduced to the filmmakers by my friend @dordotson , who is part of the team working on the movie. I met Dor because of our mutual Tori Amos love (@toriamos has brought so many amazing people into my life, thank you T), a reminder that art brings people together. True art is an expression of love, and as the world was reminded via Bad Bunny yesterday, and as I was reminded watching this film, the only thing more powerful than hate is love. Keep loving, creating, and supporting the arts. We need them more than ever.
Some good news for EXQUISITE THINGS.
1) It’s a Golden Kite Award for YA Fiction finalist, from SCBWI, judged by peers. Read all the finalists!
2) It’s the February Pick for Allstora’s Unwell, But Well-Read Book Club, hosted by Dylan Joseph. This means I am officially a part of the RLU (RuPaul Literary Universe). Can I get an amen?
3) It received a lovely review from the Historical Novel Society, which said, “Readers will learn about LGBTQ history in different eras, while empathizing with Bram and Oliver’s on-again off-again romance... readers will be rewarded with a memorable love story.”
I really poured myself into this book and hope you read it. And if you’re one of the 40% of Americans who read no books in 2025 (!!), it’ll look cuter than devices in your home!
