Raised in a large, loving Creole family, Lawrence Bagneris Jr. knew from a young age that he liked boys. But New Orleans in the 1950s and early 1960s wasn’t an easy place to be out. In high school, he channeled his energies into the Civil Rights Movement. By college, he was exploring the gay bars of the French Quarter— and telling new acquaintances to ask for Larry, not Lawrence, when they phoned him at home. It wasn’t until his 1969 move to Houston that the many strands of his Creole identity—Black, white, Catholic—coalesced into a powerful political force for gay rights. In this bracing, uplifting, and sometimes laugh-out-loud memoir, Larry Bagneris recalls his activist career: as founder of Houston’s Pride Parade and then, following a return to his hometown, as political organizer and mainstay of the local gay community. He invites us to join him on his travels, as well—from San Francisco to New York, Tel Aviv to Singapore—as he builds community, and finds family, in queer spaces around the world. |
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From an award-winning journalist comes a vivid and moving
portrait of trans and nonbinary teenagers across the country,
following their daily triumphs, struggles, and all that encompasses
growing up trans in America today
“American Teenager is an incredibly important, humane account of the joys and struggles of
so many youth currently under attack in our country. I pray this book will one day be seen
as a historical work that sheds light in a dark world and that Lang’s message of love and
acceptance becomes the story we carry forward into the future.”
—GARRARD CONLEY, author of Boy Erased: A Memoir
Nico Lang (they/them) is a nonbinary award-winning journalist with over a
decade of experience covering the transgender community’s fight for
equality. Their work has appeared in major publications, including Rolling
Stone, Esquire, The New York Times, Vox, The Wall Street Journal, Salon,
Harper’s Bazaar, Time, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
Lang is the creator of Queer News Daily and previously served as the
deputy editor for Out magazine, the news editor for Them, the LGBTQ+
correspondent for VICE, and the editor and cofounder of the literary
journal In Our Words. Their industry-leading contributions to queer media
have resulted in a GLAAD Media Award, 10 awards from the National
Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA), and three awards from the Los
Angeles Press Club, including the 2023 Online Journalist of the Year. Lang
is also the first-ever recipient of the Visibility Award from the Transgender
Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), an honor created to
recognize their impactful contributions to reporting on the lives of LGBTQ+
people.
portrait of trans and nonbinary teenagers across the country,
following their daily triumphs, struggles, and all that encompasses
growing up trans in America today
“American Teenager is an incredibly important, humane account of the joys and struggles of
so many youth currently under attack in our country. I pray this book will one day be seen
as a historical work that sheds light in a dark world and that Lang’s message of love and
acceptance becomes the story we carry forward into the future.”
—GARRARD CONLEY, author of Boy Erased: A Memoir
Nico Lang (they/them) is a nonbinary award-winning journalist with over a
decade of experience covering the transgender community’s fight for
equality. Their work has appeared in major publications, including Rolling
Stone, Esquire, The New York Times, Vox, The Wall Street Journal, Salon,
Harper’s Bazaar, Time, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
Lang is the creator of Queer News Daily and previously served as the
deputy editor for Out magazine, the news editor for Them, the LGBTQ+
correspondent for VICE, and the editor and cofounder of the literary
journal In Our Words. Their industry-leading contributions to queer media
have resulted in a GLAAD Media Award, 10 awards from the National
Association of LGBTQ Journalists (NLGJA), and three awards from the Los
Angeles Press Club, including the 2023 Online Journalist of the Year. Lang
is also the first-ever recipient of the Visibility Award from the Transgender
Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF), an honor created to
recognize their impactful contributions to reporting on the lives of LGBTQ+
people.