Lighting the Way: Why Supporting Independent LGBTQ+ Presses Matters More Than Ever

💡 In a Nutshell

As another holiday season arrives, it’s easy to get swept up in the usual rush — the gifts to find, the parties to plan, the endless stream of glittering ads urging us to buy more. But this year, we want to pause and talk about something that truly matters: the power of stories, and the importance of who gets to tell them.

All you have to do is glance at the headlines to see how the tone has changed. Book banning is rampant. State legislatures across the country are pushing anti-LBGTQ+ laws. And as these efforts to silence queer voices spread, the role of independent LGBTQ+ presses has never been more vital.

At Rattling Good Yarns Press — and at every other small queer press across the country — publishing isn’t just a business; it’s an act of community care and cultural resistance. Every book we release, every memoir, every novel, every collection of poems is both creative and political: a way to assert that LGBTQ+ lives and voices belong on the page.

Many publishers — large corporate houses, large independents, and even smaller general-interest presses — include some LGBTQ+ titles among their broader catalogs. But for them, queer books are just one line among many. When public opinion shifts, when political winds change, or when market resistance grows, these publishers can simply pivot to their “safer” lists — their straight romance, mainstream fiction, or general nonfiction titles. They have the freedom to step away from LGBTQ+ stories when it’s no longer convenient or profitable.

Independent LGBTQ+ presses are different. We are the queer community. We don’t have another line to fall back on. Our entire purpose — our passion, our reason for being — is to bring LGBTQ+ voices into print and into the world.

Those of a certain age will remember when mainstream publishers simply wouldn’t touch queer books. In those days, brave individuals founded presses like Firebrand Books, Alyson Books, and Naiad Press, determined to create space for voices no one else would publish. They took enormous risks so that LGBTQ+ readers could finally see themselves reflected in literature.

Today, presses like Rattling Good Yarns Press, Bywater Books, Rebel Satori Press, Bold Strokes Books, Beautiful Dreamer, Requeered Tales and many others continue that legacy — often on shoestring budgets, powered by passion, persistence, and the belief that queer stories matter. But without reader support — without people choosing to buy LGBTQ+ books, by LGBTQ+ authors, from LGBTQ+ presses — that legacy could disappear.

Does anyone really want to go back to those pre-Stonewall days when queer stories were hidden, erased, or dismissed as “too risky”?

Supporting independent queer publishing means ensuring that future generations will always have access to the full, messy, beautiful range of LGBTQ+ experience. So as you make your holiday lists this year, consider adding a few titles from small queer presses — for your family, your friends, or your chosen family. Each purchase is more than a gift; it’s a statement that these stories matter, and that you stand with the people keeping them alive.

From all of us at Rattling Good Yarns Press, and from every author and publisher doing this work, thank you for standing with us — and with every press committed to keeping queer stories alive. Together, we’ll keep the voices bold and the yarns rattling — and may the coming holiday season be merry, bright, and very, very gay.

📚 In Summary

Ian Henzel
Managing Publisher
Rattling Good Yarns Press