Real Queer America

LGBT Stories from Red States

By: Samantha Allen

Narrated by: Samantha Allen

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A transgender reporter's narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states, offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America.

Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she's a senior Daily Beast reporter 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.

In Real Queer America, 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.

Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.

©2019 Samantha Allen (P)2019 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Real Queer America is a book necessary for anyone in—or allied with—the queer community, especially those of us who see the bad news day after day. [Allen is] sharing the beauty of the spaces that LGBTQ+ people have carved out for themselves, and she's giving credit where credit is very much overdue, because it's the queer folk who live and stay in red states—whether by choice or due to a lack of options—who have to survive there and work to make them better."—Los Angeles Times

"A powerful book of memoir and reportage...It is difficult to capture universality in a way that also celebrates uniqueness. Allen does so through the diversity of the individual stories she uplifts, giving any reader an entry point into LGBTQ lives... [She writes] with a vulnerability and humility as approachable and accessible as it is profoundly moving."—New York Times Book Review

"Allen's award-winning work as an LGBT journalist for platforms like Fusion and The Daily Beast is both radically empathetic and comprehensively analytical. This is a balance she has upheld admirably in Real Queer America, an exploration of queer communities in conservative parts of the country-communities that are often overlooked in conversations about what it means to be queer, American, or both. Use this title to help you chart the course of your next cross-country road trip."—Harper's Bazaar

Shout-out to a queer hero for an excellent job!

The narrative of life as queer people know it is much different than what is reflected in a very small slice of lgbtq+ friendly national outlets and by a who's-who list of prominent people under the broad, inclusive and expansive queer umbrella. Queer life in the heartland is much more fulfilling and diverse than what it is depicted to be. Of course there are major challenges and everyday threats to our very existence and to the safety of our community but that does not mean that a conclusion to arise from that fact should be to pack up shop and leave town for metropoli where queer life can become uninspiring, people can become jaded and the very real connections that makes our relationships prosper at a deeper level can become flimsy threads. This book is an eye-opener for everyone who does not know enough about the queerness of red america. Humanity of people trumps indecency of everyday brinksmanship that we see from depraved politicians and anyone who has both the courage and the time to invest in real relationships with actual people will open up their heart and dispel any seed of prejudice and bias which basically is the result lack of information and connectedness. Terrific stories and inspired narration!

Exceptional!

Satisfying curiosities you didn't know you had about diverse people you want to know by the end of the story. Samantha is an incredible storyteller, nourishing the senses throughout and make you ache for the foods, smells and sights enough to consider moving to a red state. I hope Samantha writes more books like this one.

So good!!

I loved this book! It's well written and thoughtful representation of the closeness of queer communities made me proud to be part of my own red state queer world ❤️

Critical Commentary On Life Outside the Coasts

One thing I’ve always noticed growing up in the Midwest is how little my experience is reflected in the national media. Samantha Allen does an excellent job exploring the different facets of a full LGBTQ+ experience in America, in what can only be her voice. You have not read or listened to a book like this before and history will thank her for writing it.

Perfect!

As a gay ex Mormon from Utah, I related in some ways to Samantha’s experience. I thought for so long that I wanted to move to a bigger city. Don’t get me wrong. I still really want to leave Utah. It never felt like home to me. But reading this book has made me rethink on where I want to move to. It has left me with a lot of introspective questions.

This experience needed to be explored.

As a Floridian, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of LGBT activism in the south and in "red states" in general. I never identified as a "southerner" because I've always been very liberal. But a great deal of my childhood was spent camping, hiking and canoing in the woods of southern states, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. It is great to explore the space between two truths that seem to oppose each other, which this book does very well.

I Might have given it a different title

It's a good book. I enjoyed it. The title is all wrong though. It's not really "Real Queer America: LGBTQ stories from Red States". She visited Austin, Houston, Provo, Atlanta and Bloomington, IN. All metropolitan areas in red states. Let's face it...cities typically lean liberal, even in the south. So, not really red. Bloomington? It's a college town home of the Kinsey Institute. I've have spent most of my life in Indiana, Bloomington is a college town and they tend to be far more liberal. She didn't visit say a LaPorte, IN which is ridiculously conservative and not very accepting of the LGBTQ community. And while she does tell really great stories about queer people and the things they're doing, it's mostly about how they relate to her and how it makes her feel. A better title would have been "My Transition in Red States by Samantha Allen". I like it. I do. The title is just all wrong.

Worthwhile and uplifting

I love Samantha Allen’s beautiful, uplifting perspective on America’s inherent queerness. Her descriptions of queer hotspots in “Red America” made me want to take a road trip and experience them all for myself - no easy feat! A very worthwhile read.

Enjoyed very much!

Eye-opening, insightful, honest, sobering, hopeful, lovely, encouraging. Read this to prepare for a book club meeting at which the author will be present, and so glad I did!

Excellent read

This was such a wonderful book and it discussed some truly important topics which are especially urgent for cis-people to hear/read. The narration was beautiful, and Samantha's voice is so smooth and easy to listen to. I was truly sad when I reached the end of this book, so I anticipate revisiting it.