In something a little new for LGBTQReads, today we’re hosting the cover reveal for the brand-new paperback design of Real Queer America: LGBTQ Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen! The paperback releases June 16, and the great news is that if you can’t wait until then, you don’t have to, because you can get it in hardcover now! But for those who prefer paperback or who just need to have this new gorgeous cover on shelves, read on and see what it’s all about before we get to the revamped design!

A transgender reporter’s “powerful, profoundly moving” (New York Times Book Review) narrative tour through the surprisingly vibrant queer communities sprouting up in red states, offering a vision of a stronger, more humane America.

Ten years ago, Samantha Allen was a suit-and-tie-wearing Mormon missionary. Now she’s a GLAAD Award-winning journalist happily married to another woman. A lot in her life has changed, but what hasn’t changed is her deep love of Red State America, and of queer people who stay in so-called “flyover country” rather than moving to the liberal coasts.

In Real Queer America, Allen takes us on a cross-country road-trip stretching all the way from Provo, Utah to the Rio Grande Valley to the Bible Belt to the Deep South. Her motto for the trip: “Something gay every day.” Making pit stops at drag shows, political rallies, and hubs of queer life across the heartland, she introduces us to scores of extraordinary LGBT people working for change, from the first openly transgender mayor in Texas history to the manager of the only queer night club in Bloomington, Indiana, and many more.

Capturing profound cultural shifts underway in unexpected places and revealing a national network of chosen family fighting for a better world, Real Queer America is a treasure trove of uplifting stories and a much-needed source of hope and inspiration in these divided times.

And here’s the beautiful new cover!

Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Indiebound