The 2000s Made Me Gay

Essays on Pop Culture

By: Grace Perry

Narrated by: Grace Perry

This program is read by the author.

From The Onion and Reductress contributor, this collection of essays is a hilarious nostalgic trip through beloved 2000s media, interweaving cultural criticism and personal narrative to examine how a very straight decade forged a very queer woman.

"Honest, funny, smart, and illuminating.” —Anna Drezen, co-head writer of SNL

"If you came of age at the intersection of Mean Girls and The L Word: Read this book.” —Sarah Pappalardo, editor in chief and co-founder of Reductress

Today’s gay youth have dozens of queer peer heroes, both fictional and real, but former gay teenager Grace Perry did not have that luxury. Instead, she had to search for queerness in the (largely straight) teen cultural phenomena the aughts had to offer: in Lindsay Lohan’s fall from grace, Gossip Girl, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl,” country-era Taylor Swift, and Seth Cohen jumping on a coffee cart. And, for better or worse, these touch points shaped her adult identity. She came out on the other side like many millennials did: in her words, gay as hell.

Throw on your Von Dutch hats and join Grace on a journey back through the pop culture moments of the aughts with The 2000s Made Me Gay, before the cataclysmic shift in LGBTQ representation and acceptance—a time not so long ago, which many seem to forget.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Griffin

Critic reviews

<p>“<i>The 2000s Made Me Gay</i> is a gay hike through the media that shaped my little gay life, revisiting all of the big questions of my adolescence (Do I want to f*ck her, or be her?) via every dusty DVD I quietly watched in various finished basements in 2003. If you came of age at the intersection of <i>Mean Girls</i> and <i>The L Word</i>: Read this book.” —Sarah Pappalardo, editor in chief and co-founder of <i>Reductress</i> and author of <i>How to Win at Feminism</i><br><br>“Grace Perry’s debut essay collection is the peak of pop-culture–peppered Millennial reflection. For anyone who recalls the special romance of G-chatting a new love until dawn, or whose “Team Seth” stance during <i>The O.C.</i>’s run was life-defining, this masterful first book will cut deep.” —Joel Meares, editor in chief of Rotten Tomatoes, author of <i>We’re All Going to Die (Especially Me)</i> <br><br>“It’s not just that Grace Perry is hilarious—she’s also incredibly particular, and dynamic, and so keen an observer of this demented world. This book is a searchlight. Her essays will explain you to you.” —Claire Luchette, 2020 Pushcart Prize winner and author of <i>Agatha of Little Neon</i><br><br>“It’s impossible to resist the pull of [Perry's] prose and the ease of her humor; Perry specializes in the kind of writing that makes you feel like you’ve known her for years. [W]hip-smart...hilarious and sneakily thought-provoking, <i>The 2000s Made Me Gay</i> is a compelling collection of essays that seamlessly weaves together pop culture references and tales from Perry’s sexual own awakening.” —Morgan Olsen, editor in chief of <i>Time Out Chicago</i></p>

Great story questionable source.

I had a blast rolling with the pop culture experiences I shared. The book lent a new perceptive on my relationship with such iconic moments. I also know for a fact the author has never made a women come.

Fabulous read!

Fellow 1989ers unite! Wonderful essays on pop culture and the millennial queer experience. Great audio performance. Recommended!

Loved it!

I saw someone post about this book on Instagram and I was very intrigued. I’m so happy I downloaded this. I’ve recommended it to all my queer friends too! It talks about a lot of things that are not discussed enough in the queer community.

Pretty good. Kinda niche audience

I enjoyed this set of essays, but it’s definitely targeted towards a very specific audience of queer lady millennial. Being queer, but not a woman, and being a millennial but at the very end of the millennial generation, there were some queer pop culture references that I very much remember and identify with, and there were others that I was definitely too young for or that just weren’t on my radar, but that’s okay. This was a nice easy read and the narrator did a great job.

No notes. Its perfect 😍

This is absolutely brilliant 🖤 As a lesbian millennial, I relate so incredibly hard with this!