2026 LGBTQIA+ Authored Leadership Book List

In honor of Pride Month, CuriosityBased curated this 2026 LGBTQIA+ Authored Leadership Book List of books written by authors that identify as LGBTQIA+. This list is meant to be a resource, not an official endorsement. The books are listed in alphabetical order by book title. Check out all of the CuriosityBased curated leadership book lists.

1. A Burst of Light: and Other Essays — Audre Lorde
2. A Place for Us: A Memoir — Brandon J. Wolf
3. A Queer History of the United States — Michael Bronski
4. A Year of Pride and Joy — Simon James Green
5. All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto — George M. Johnson
6. All Down Darkness Wide: A Memoir — Sean Hewitt
7. All In: An Autobiography — Billie Jean King
8. All Pride, No Ego — Jim Fielding
9. All The Things She Said — Daisy Jones
10. Allies at Work — Dr. David M. Hall
11. Alphabet Soup: The Essential Guide to LGBTQ2+ Inclusion — Michael Bach
12. An Archive of Hope: Harvey Milk’s Speeches and Writings — Harvey Milk
13. And A Voice to Sing With: A Memoir — Joan Baez
14. And Now We Are Going to Have a Party — Nicola Griffith
15. Another Word for Love — Carvell Wallace
16. Authentic Leadership — Lemuel W. Watson & Joshua Moon Johnson
17. Bad Feminist — Roxanne Gay
18. Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life — Alan Cumming
19. Baggage: Tales from a Fully Packed Life — Alan Cumming and Dey Street Books
20. Banned from California — Robert C. Steele
21. Be a Revolution — Ijeoma Oluo
22. Beautiful on the Outside: A Memoir — Adam Rippon
23. Before We Were Trans: A New History of Gender — Dr. Kit Heyam
24. Belonging At Work: Everyday Actions You Can Take to Cultivate an Inclusive Organization — Rhodes Perry
25. Beyond The Rainbow — Jenn T. Grace
26. Binge — Tyler Oakley
27. Black Boy Out of Time — Hari Ziyad
28. Blood, Bones & Butter — Gabrielle Hamilton
29. Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation — Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
30. Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza — Gloria Anzaldúa
31. Borrowed Time — Paul Monette
32. Boy Erased: A Memoir — Garrard Conley
33. Breaking Bias — Anu Gupta
34. Breaking the Rainbow Ceiling — Layla McCay
35. Breaking Through — Sally Susman
36. Brotopia — Emily Chang
37. Business, Not Politics — Katherine Sender
38. Coaching Wisdom — Gay Coaching Alliance Contributors
39. Coming Out of the Closet — Natalie Tindall & Richard D. Waters
40. Communicate with Mastery — JD Schramm
41. Creating an LGBT+ Inclusive Workplace — Kryss Shane
42. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High — Ron McMillan (Co-Author)
43. Deaf Utopia: A Memoir — Nyle DiMarco
44. Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen — Jose Antonio Vargas
45. Diary of a Misfit — Casey Parks
46. Eat, Pray, Love — Elizabeth Gilbert
47. Emergent Strategy — adrienne maree brown
48. Entrepreneurial You — Dorie Clark
49. Everybody’s Got Something — Robin Roberts & Veronica Chambers
50. Fairest: A Memoir — Meredith Talusan
51. Feeling Power: Emotions and education — Megan Boler
52. Fire Shut Up in My Bones — Charles M. Blow
53. Fit to Serve — James C. Hormel & Erin Martin
54. Fixing Fairness: 4 Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash into Progress for All — Lily Zheng
55. Forever Young: The Story of Troye Sivan — Alana Wulff
56. Forging Queer Leaders — Bree Fram & Elizabeth Cavallaro
57. Frank: A Life in Politics — Barney Frank
58. Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words — Freddie Mercury
59. Fun Home — Alison Bechdel
60. Gay Issues in the Workplace — Brian McNaught
61. Gender Ambiguity in the Workplace — Alison Ash Fogarty Ph.D. & Lily Zheng
62. Gender Magic — Rae McDaniel
63. Gender Outlaw — Kate Bornstein
64. Gender Queer — Maia Kobabe
65. Gmorning, Gnight!: Little pep talks for me & you — Lin-Manuel Miranda
66. Gunn’s Golden Rules — Tim Gunn
67. GuRu — RuPaul
68. Handbook of LGBT Tourism and Hospitality — Jeff Guaracino & Ed Salvato
69. Heartbeat: Musings on Leather and Leadership — Thomas Smith
70. Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot — John Paul Brammer
71. Homo Economics: Capitalism, Community, and Gay Life — Amy Gluckman & Betsy Reed
72. Horse Barbie: A Memoir — Geena Rocero
73. How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office — adrienne maree brown (eds)
74. How to Learn to Be Brave — Mariann Edgar Budde
75. How to Live Free in a Dangerous World — Shayla Lawson
76. How We Fight for Our Lives — Saeed Jones
77. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body — Roxane Gay
78. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body — Roxanne Gay
79. I Can’t Date Jesus — Michael Arceneaux
80. I Don’t Want to Die Poor: Essays — Michael Arceneaux
81. I Heard Her Call My Name: A Memoir of Transition — Lucy Sante
82. I Hope We Choose Love — Kai Cheng Thom
83. I’m Afraid of Men — Vivek Shraya
84. I’m the One That I Want — Margaret Cho
85. In Defense of Our America — Anthony D. Romero
86. In My Skin — Brittney Griner
87. In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens — Alice Walker
88. In the Dream House: A Memoir — Carmen Maria Machado
89. In the Shadow of the Eagle — Donna M. Loring
90. In Transit: Being Non-Binary — Dianne E. Anderson
91. Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace — Jennifer Brown
92. Inclusive 360 — Bernadette Smith
93. Is It Hot In Here? — Zach Zimmerman
94. It’s About Damn Time — Arlan Hamilton
95. Kissing Girls on Shabbat — Dr. Sara Glass
96. Lavender Road to Success — Kirk Snyder
97. Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing: Essays — Lauren Hough
98. Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives — Amelia Possanza
99. LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education — Raymond Crossman (ed)
100. Liberating Minds — Norman Kester & Deborah Turner
101. Lions Don’t Need to Roar: Using the Leadership Power of Personal Presence to Stand Out, Fit in and Move Ahead — Debra A Benton
102. Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls — T Kira Madden
103. Love and Rage — Lama Rod Owens
104. Ma and Me — Putsata Reang
105. Maeve Rising: Coming Out Trans in Corporate America — Maeve DuVally
106. Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me — Ellen Forney
107. Martina — Martina Navratilova
108. Me — Ricky Martin
109. My Greatest Save — Brianna Scurry
110. My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing & Hope — Karamo Brown
111. Naturally Tan — Tan France
112. Never Silent: ACT UP and My Life in Activism — Peter Staley
113. No Ashes in the Fire — Darnell L. Moore
114. Nothing Personal — James Baldwin
115. Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction from Social Justice — adrienne maree brown (eds)
116. Oh Myyy!: There Goes The Internet — George Takei
117. On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope — DeRay Mckesson
118. One Life — Megan Rapinoe & Emma Brockes
119. Out & Equal at Work — Selisse Berry
120. Out Behind the Desk — Tracy Marie Nectoux (ed)
121. Out in the Field: Reflections of Gay Anthropologists — Ellen Lewin (ed)
122. Out of Space: Creating Safe Spaces in Unlikely Places — Julio C. Roman
123. Out to Lead: Shaping Queer Leadership — Jonathan Dromgoole
124. Outside the Lines — Mihee Kim-Kort
125. Over the Top — Jonathan Van Ness
126. Pageboy: A Memoir — Elliot Page
127. People Change — Vivek Shraya
128. Pleasure Activism — adrienne maree brown
129. Pressure is a Privilege — Billie Jean King
130. Pride Leadership: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Leader — Steven Yacovelli
131. Punch Me Up to the Gods — Brian Broome
132. Queer Eye: Love Yourself, Love your Life — Antoni Porowski, et al.
133. Queer Flourishing — Dominic Longo
134. Raf Simons — Sunny Chanday
135. Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color — Gilbert Baker
136. Redefining Realness — Janet Mock
137. Refusing Compulsory Sexuality — Sherronda J. Brown
138. Representation Matters — Karen Ocamb
139. Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey — Alvin Ailey & A. Peter Bailey
140. Say the Right Thing — Kenji Yoshino & David Glasgow
141. Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington — James Kirchick
142. Seriously…I’m Kidding — Ellen DeGeneres
143. Serving in Silence — Margarethe Cammermeyer
144. Serving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Teens — Hillias Martin Jr & James R. Murdock
145. Shortest Way Home — Pete Buttigieg
146. Shut Up, I’m Talking! — Jason Stuart
147. Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story — Jacob Tobia
148. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches — Audre Lorde
149. Stand Out — Dorie Clark
150. Stonewall — Martin Duberman
151. Straight Jacket — Matthew Todd
152. Straight Talk About Gays in the Workplace — Liz Winfeld & Susan Spielman
153. Surpassing Certainty — Janet Mock
154. Surviving Autocracy — Masha Gessen
155. Ten Steps to Nanette — Hannah Gadsby
156. The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom — Suze Orman
157. The Apartheid of Sex — Martine Rothblatt, PhD
158. The Argonauts — Maggie Nelson
159. The Best Strangers in the World — Ari Shapiro
160. The Book of Pride — Mason Funk
161. The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir — André Leon Talley
162. The Children of Harvey Milk — Andrew Reynolds
163. The Complete Guide to Transgender in the Workplace — Vanessa Sheridan
164. The Dead Don’t Need Reminding — Julian Randall
165. The Educator’s Guide to LGBT+ Inclusion — Kryss Shane
166. The Fire Next Time — James Baldwin
167. The G Quotient — Kirk Snyder
168. The Glass Closet — John Browne
169. The Gloria Anzaldúa Reader — Gloria Anzaldua
170. The Holly Woodlawn Story — Holly Woodlawn
171. The Lie: A Memoir — William Dameron
172. The Male Gazed — Manuel Betancourt
173. The Man Without a Face — Masha Gessen
174. The New Queer Conscience — Adam Eli
175. The Normal Heart — Larry Kramer
176. The One You Want to Marry — Sophie Santos
177. The Path Forward: Rethinking Federal Marijuana Policy — Rep. Earl Blumenauer & Rep. Jared Polis
178. The Power of “Out”: LGBT in the Workplace — Sylvia Ann Hewlett & Karen Sumberg
179. The Queer Advantage — Andrew Gelwicks
180. The Queer Games Avant-Garde — Bo Ruberg
181. The Queering of Corporate America — Carlos A. Ball
182. The Rainbow Comes and Goes — Anderson Cooper & Gloria Vanderbilt
183. The Souls of Queer Folk — Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown
184. The Velvet Rage — Alan Downs, PhD
185. They Called Us Enemy — George Takei
186. This Is the Fire: What I Say to My Friends About Racism — Don Lemon
187. This Time for Me: A Memoir — Alexandra Billings
188. Thriving in Business: Strategies for the LGBTQ+ Entrepreneur — Elena Joy Thurston (ed)
189. Tim Cook — Leander Kahney
190. Tom Ford — Tom Ford
191. Trailblazer — Mary Ann Horton
192. Transgender Warriors — Leslie Feinberg
193. Trust: America’s Best Chance — Pete Buttigieg
194. Truth or Dare — Starhawk
195. Unapologetic — Charlene Carruthers
196. Untamed — Glennon Doyle
197. Virtually Human — Martine Rothblatt, PhD
198. Warrior Princess — Kristen Beck & Anne Speckhard
199. We Are Everywhere — Matthew Reimer
200. We Can Be Heroes: A Survivor’s Story — Paul Burston
201. We Have Always Been Here — Samra Habib
202. We Will Not Cancel Us — adrienne maree brown
203. White Girls — Hilton Als
204. Who’s Afraid of Gender? — Judith Butler
205. WOLFPACK — Abby Wambach
206. You’re That Bitch — Bretman Rock
207. Your First Million — Arlan Hamilton
208. Your Queer Career — Dr. Steven R. Yacovelli
209. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name — Audre Lorde
210. Zero to One — Peter Thiel & Blake Masters

You can check out other CuriosityBased curated leadership book lists by authors who identify as Black,Hispanic/Latino/Latinx, AANHPI, Native American, women, and those who identify as having disabilities

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