"Going Rainbow" this IDAHOBIT Day!

One of Yarra Plenty Regional Library’s key principles is that ‘we welcome and are here for everyone in our communities’ and this includes our LGBTQIA community members.   

We invite you to join us in celebrating IDAHOBIT day by ‘going rainbow’, either with your school, workplace, with us, or by yourself!

We have events and celebrations for people of all ages! Whether it be a creative workshop on Cynotype Printing or Flipbook animation from Treehome Collective, a celebration of LGBTQIA+ Voices in Literature, a Tie-Dye workshop or film screening we would love to see you there! Please see this blog for the full listing of events to commemorate this day. 

We also have books, eBooks, magazines, DVDs, streaming films, and much more, featuring LGBTQIA+ characters and stories, or providing information for and about LGBTQIA+ lives. 

Check out a small selection below! 

The queer film guide: 100 great movies that tell LGBTQIA+ stories by Kyle Turner

Beginning with early trailblazers like Different from the Others, Kyle Turner has selected 100 of cinema's greatest queer films to guide you through the eras. From Hitchcock's Rope and cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show through the New Queer Cinema movement of the 90s to the present day, where LGBTQIA+ narratives have increasingly made their way into the mainstream and dominated award seasons with films like Carol, Tangerine, and Moonlight. From scrappy auteurs to Academy Award winners, The Queer Film Guide celebrates LGBTQIA+ stories and artists, offering a fresh take on what defines great cinema, and lending a voice to the diverse creators and characters who have shaped the art form. 

Fair Game by Alex Blackwell 

Alex Blackwell lived and breathed our national sport of cricket for thirty years. Starting as a kid, she spent her childhood and teen years on the field with her identical twin, Kate, who was equally devoted to the bat and ball.  But life off the field brought challenges of its own. From her professional debut, Alex was unafraid to call out hypocrisy and go in to battle against the traditional hierarchies of the game. Speaking out and becoming a passionate advocate for women and LGBTQI+ people in sport won her many fans and much respect, but it didn't come without a price.  This is the story of the sacrifices and victories, the extreme highs and devastating lows, that come with playing sport at the highest level, and of what it takes to be truly courageous on and off the field. 

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky

Twenty-three-year-old Nolan Baker wants it all by the time he's thirty. Too bad he's single, barely able to cover his own expenses, and still paying his dues at a prominent NYC comedy club. When faced with his perfect sister's wedding, Nolan takes it as a wakeup call. It's time to quit comedy and make good on his practical dreams—most importantly, asking Drew Techler, his best friend, to be his date. But right as Nolan is about to give it all up, he's asked to fill a last-minute spot for a famous comedian. Score! He crushes his set, but stands Drew up, misses his sister's big day, and disappoints his entire family. After major blowouts with everyone he loves, Nolan desperately wishes on a set of gift "magical healing crystals" to skip to the good part of life. When he wakes the next morning, it's seven years later, he's a successful comedian, and he has everything he always thought he wanted. Everything, that is, except his friends and family, none of whom are taking his future self's calls.

At 30 I realized I had no gender : life lessons from a 50-year-old after two decades of self-discovery by Shou Arai

At age 30, Shou Arai came to a realization; he had no gender. Now he was faced with a question he'd never really considered: how to age in a society where everything is so strongly segregated between two genders?

This autobiographical manga explores Japanese culture surrounding gender, transgender issues, and the day-to-day obstacles faced by gender minorities and members of the LGBTQIA+ community with a lighthearted, comedic attitude. 

A Modern Gay's Guide (Digital Magazine)

A Modern Gay's Guide is Australia and New Zealand's leading LGBTIQ+ print magazine and an internationally read online queer news and events hub!

Shifting Lines: New Queer Animation (2022)

From dystopian dating and awkward high school crushes to the tenderness of chosen family and intergenerational indigenous power, SHIFTING LINES: NEW QUEER ANIMATION takes an expansive look at the LGBTQ+ experience through the lens of six filmmakers and animators!