"Through engrossing narratives, letters, drawings, poems, and more, the book encourages young readers, of all identities, to feel pride at the accomplishments of the LGBTQ people who came before them and to use history as a guide to the future. The stories he shares include those of: Thomas Morton, who celebrated same-sex love in Boston's Puritan community in the 1620s; Albert D.J. Cashier, an Irish immigrant and Civil War hero, who was born in the body of a woman but lived as a man for over a half century; Gladys Bentley, an African American blues singer who challenged cross-dressing laws in 1920s Harlem; Bayard Rustin, Martin Luther King Jr.'s close friend, civil rights organizer, and an openly gay man; Sylvia Rivera, who along with Marsha P. Johnson, founded the first transgender political group in the United States in 1970; Harvey Milk, a community organizer and the first openly gay politician to win an election in California; Jamie Nabozny, a teen who brought national attention to the issue of LGBTQ bullying by bringing his case to the Supreme Court in the 1990s. With over 60 illustrations and photos, a glossary, and a corresponding curriculum, A Queer History of the United States for Young People will be vital for teachers who want to introduce a new perspective to America's story"--

Introduction: Before we start, or, What is normal? -- Native peoples : different genders, different sexualities -- Thomas Morton : free love among the Puritans? -- Jemima Wilkinson : the surprising life of Publick Universal Friend -- Deborah Sampson : patriot, soldier, gender rebel -- Nineteenth-century romantic friendships : BFFs or friends with benefits? -- The mystery of Emily Dickinson : passionate attachments and independent women -- Julia Ward Howe, Samuel Gridley Howe, and Charles Sumner : complicated relationships and radical social change in very proper nineteenth-century Boston -- The amazing life of Albert D.J. Cashier : transgender war hero -- Charlotte Cushman : American idol, lover of women -- Walt Whitman : poet of the people -- Rebecca Primus and Addie Brown : a nineteenth-century love story -- The radical Victoria Woodhull : first woman to run for president -- Jane Addams : the mother of social work -- Julian Eltinge : the most famous cross-dresser in America -- Marie Equi : fighting for women, workers, peace, and justice for all -- Gladys Bentley : blues-singing bulldagger -- World War II : the war that started LGBTQ politics -- Harry Hay : how his society of fools started a revolution -- Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin : climbing the ladder of freedom and justice -- Pauli Murray : "You must remember that truth is our only sword" -- Bayard Rustin : a life of activism -- Carl Wittman : radical movements, political organizing, and country dance -- Rita Mae Brown : the lavender menace writes her way to freedom -- Gloria Anzaldua : a life between borders -- Sylvester and Anita Bryant : marching to two very different drummers -- Robert Hillsborough and Harvey Milk : struggle and violence, grief and rage -- Essex Hemphill : the power of blackness -- Kiyoshi Kuromiya : man of many movements -- Felix Gonzalez-Torres : art in the face of death -- Jamie Nabozny : gay teen hero -- Jack Baker and Michael McConnell : it started in a barber shop -- Sylvia Rivera : a life in the streets and a guiding STAR -- Coming out or staying in : new queer ways of living in the world today -- Young people today : the future of queer history.