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A review by bellesbooknook
The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases by Chloe O. Davis
5.0
This book is amazing! This is the ultimate reference guide to the LGBTQIA+ community, filled with almost every term or phrase you could think of that has come out of and helped make a part of LGBTQIA+ history.
The book is incredibly well organized. Under each definition, it specifies what community the vocabulary word originated out of, whether that be the lesbian/gay community, the trans community, the ballroom/drag community, or the black queer community. So it’s really handy to see where each word originated from and also illustrates just how many words in the LGBTQIA+ lexicon originated from both the drag and black queer communities and just how massively these communities have contributed to the language of the larger LGBTQIA+ community today.
Alongside each definition, there are other helpful tidbits such as whether the word has since been deemed outdated or offensive or whether it could potentially still be considered hurtful to others despite it being reclaimed by some members of the community, while always reminding the reader to ask one’s personal preferences first before using a certain word. Throughout the book there are also illustrated mini-history lessons, guides, and educational sections that delve into other topics like trans people and pronouns, different forms of gender expression, and more, which is a really nice touch and only add to how expansive and informative this book is.
My one critique I would have for this book: Elliot Paige’s deadname is printed. Considering how much this book devoted to trans visibility, I’d like to hope that the author or publisher didn’t have any ill intentions and that this was merely a matter of unfortunate timing and not being able to edit this book in time before its release. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for that. But just a fair warning going in. Also, there’s an illustration of Ellen in this book. Again, I’m going to assume this was just a timing issue, but I couldn’t help but think, “Yikes, this didn’t age well...” when I saw it
The book is incredibly well organized. Under each definition, it specifies what community the vocabulary word originated out of, whether that be the lesbian/gay community, the trans community, the ballroom/drag community, or the black queer community. So it’s really handy to see where each word originated from and also illustrates just how many words in the LGBTQIA+ lexicon originated from both the drag and black queer communities and just how massively these communities have contributed to the language of the larger LGBTQIA+ community today.
Alongside each definition, there are other helpful tidbits such as whether the word has since been deemed outdated or offensive or whether it could potentially still be considered hurtful to others despite it being reclaimed by some members of the community, while always reminding the reader to ask one’s personal preferences first before using a certain word. Throughout the book there are also illustrated mini-history lessons, guides, and educational sections that delve into other topics like trans people and pronouns, different forms of gender expression, and more, which is a really nice touch and only add to how expansive and informative this book is.
My one critique I would have for this book: Elliot Paige’s deadname is printed. Considering how much this book devoted to trans visibility, I’d like to hope that the author or publisher didn’t have any ill intentions and that this was merely a matter of unfortunate timing and not being able to edit this book in time before its release. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for that. But just a fair warning going in. Also, there’s an illustration of Ellen in this book. Again, I’m going to assume this was just a timing issue, but I couldn’t help but think, “Yikes, this didn’t age well...” when I saw it