Love and LiteraTea is founded in 2020 by Shea Martin and Dr. Cody Miller. It’s a safe and affirming space for LGBTQ+ youth to virtually connect through literature and pop culture. The mission of Love & LiteraTea is to empower, uplift, and provide community for LGBTQ+ youth by reading and discussing the work of LGBTQ+ writers and artists. How does it work? At the beginning of the academic year, Shea and Cody selected the inaugural Love and LiteraTea stack. The collection of books will guide the group’s discussion throughout the year. Each participant in Love and LiteraTea is provided with books and/or materials. Twice a month, Love and LiteraTea meets to build to community and discuss the books. The bi-monthly meetings are facilitated by Shea, Cody and other LGBTQ+ teachers. Who can join Love and LiteraTea? Love and LiteraTea is open to high school students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and everything in between and beyond. They welcome applications from folx with all ethnic and racial backgrounds. As a group, they are committed to centering the stories and voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Color in the application process. For starters, there is no grading or required assignments! You can never fail Love & LiteraTea nor can you ever be late on an assignment. In many ways, traditional ELA classes are homo, queer, and transphobic. As members of LGBTQ communities, they often don’t get their stories honored and told in K-12 spaces. Love & LiteraTea is all about LGBTQ stories: reading them, cherishing them, discussing them, amplifying them, and loving them. They will be critically discussing and analyzing literature, but without the norms of a standard ELA class. This space is by and for LGBTQ people who love reading, sharing, and discussing books! What books will you read? This year, the inaugural stack of core texts includes highly celebrated texts from amazing LGBTQ+ authors from around the world: Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera, Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian, Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas, and Felix Ever After by Kacen Calender.
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