Watching porn has been linked to a multitude of problems for individuals and wider society – but for every study maligning it, another clears its name. Often, evidence is mixed, and the research methods and sample sizes of studies have their limitations. Many queer female writers see Rita Mae Brown's 1973 coming-of-age book as an iconic work of LGBT literature: "[I love Rubyfruit Jungle] because, well, because. I think this was the first 'lesbian' book I ever read! And devoured. And loved," writes The Year of Needy Girls' Patricia Smith. Yolanda Wallace, author of Tailor-Made, tells us, "When I was a teenager questioning my sexuality, this book provided the answers I was looking for."

Those who watched porn accepted more rape myths compared to a control group, but only in the experimental studies. Non-experimental studies – which relied on participants reporting information – showed no correlation. So, the findings were somewhat inconclusive. For all of the painful physical and sexual abuse and heartache Walker's protagonist Celie endures at the hands of Mister, the man she's forced to marry as an adolescent, and the violent, institutionalized racism she faces as a woman of color, the novel teems with hope and light. Epic in scope, the novel is, in part, a story of love between women --Celie's love for her long-lost sister Nettie and for Shug Avery, the blues singer and former lover of Mister's Celie falls for and with whom she eventually makes a home. In a lush tale of manners, position, and desire, the titular character meets and falls for his classmate Clive while at Oxford. The pair embark on a two-year affair until Clive leaves Maurice to marry a woman and live out his proscribed life as part of the landed gentry, leaving Maurice in shambles and seeking to cure his homosexuality. Porn has transformed over the past few decades, due to the availability of the internet and faster web connections. It is also becoming more immersive than ever before. Take virtual reality. Earlier this year, researchers from Newcastle University in the UK pointed out that VR changes the experience of porn from detached observer to protagonist. They warned that this has the potential to blur the line between reality and fantasy, perhaps damaging relationships and encouraging harmful behaviour.This romance anthology set in the America during and after the Revolutionary War includes an m/m story about an American soldier and a British officer and an f/f story about a woman who works as Eliza Hamilton’s maid and a dressmaker who arrives at the Hamilton mansion. Homegoing by yaa gyasi It’s pretty much impossible to describe this haunting, beautiful, innovative masterpiece of a novel. Narrated mostly by a chorus of ghosts, it is the story of one night in 1862 that Abraham Lincoln spends in a graveyard, mourning the loss of his young son, Willie. Though this book is full of dozens of characters, there are three ghosts that might be considered main characters in a more conventional novel, one of whom is a gay man. the diviners by libBa bray The book, an immediate smash with queer women for its frank depiction of lesbian desire and of flirting with gender roles, was made into a 2002 BBC miniseries that reinvigorated interest in the novel, which won the Lambda Literary Award and earned a place on the New York Times list of notable books the year it was published. A novel that is simultaneously of its time and timeless, and it holds the distinction of being the first of its kind to have a happy ending," Yolanda Wallace said of the novel. SJ Sindu, author of Marriage of a Thousand Lies, called it, "One of the first Anglophone works to challenge the trope of the sad/suicidal gays who die at the end, this book gave us a blueprint of what queer fiction could look like."

The thread posed the question, "What’s the gayest thing you’ve ever done with another guy?" Straight men then flooded the comments with their most epic bromance stories. From getting excited while watching porn together to making obscene noises, here are some of the funniest stories. My father has a temper and it used to explode quite violently, and though I was spanked, he never actually hit me in anger. I remember his face; it is still crystal clear in my mind, and I remember being so afraid that he was angry with me. I remember him asking me to repeat the story and I remember his face was so red and he was shaking. He told me to stay in the kitchen and he went and got my mom. I remember them standing in the kitchen and yelling at each other. I was sitting at the table, and I can still remember how small I felt. I was so scared that they were angry with me and that I was going to get in major trouble. I remember feeling regret over saying anything, as my parents were upset and I just knew I was going to get beat up now. My dad stormed out of the house, and I remember my mom coming over and hugging me and telling me that they loved me very much and that they were proud of me for saying something. I remember feeling confused but also relieved that she wasn’t angry with me, and I just sat there and nuzzled into my mom’s arms and cried. I asked him careful questions about his years in the service and his home country. He gave me polite answers and told me, a white boy from New York, that I should really make it over to Asia at some point. An epic tale of perseverance and empowerment as well as a celebration of love in all its forms," Tailor-Made author Yolanda Wallac, said of the novel. One study from the University of Cambridge likened porn addiction to drug addiction, after finding that they both trigger the brain in a similar way.A revelation when it was published in 1982, Alice Walker's novel delves into the intersections of race, gender, family, and sexuality in Georgia circa 1930. Gyasi’s masterpiece of an epic novel spans ~300 years and follows the descendants of two Ghanaian sisters—one is sold into slavery and the other marries a European slave trader. I really appreciated that she included a queer character in one of the early sections. His story (and much of this book) is heartbreaking to read, but it is absolutely worthwhile. she rises by kate worsley