do you know of any ya dystopias with queer/trans protagonists?
Ahhhhh I love the smell of queer dystopias in the morning…
Anyway, Yes! I know quite a few actually! I’m assuming this ask is about books but I’d like to mention a tv series called The 100 first. It’s set just under 100 years after a nuclear war and the main character is bisexual (which we find out when she gets a female love interest in season 2). Season 3 starts later this year and I’ve really enjoyed watching it. By no means is it perfect but the cast is more diverse than a lot of shows I’ve watched.
OK, so now on to books! (This list is lacking in the trans character department because I could find barely any books with trans characters in so as a note to the followers of this blog, if you know any trans dystopian novels please let me know or reblog and mention them there, thanks.)
The Butterfly and the Flame by Dana De Young (x) “In the year 2404, America is no more. In a land ruled by the oppressive theocracy known as the Dominion of Divinity, being gay is a capital offense, adultery is punished with the lash, women are forbidden to work, and forced marriages are common. Fifteen-year-old Emily La Rouche faces an impossible choice. On her sixteenth birthday, she will be forced to marry Jonathan Marsh, the son of her landlord. If she refuses, her family will lose everything. If she takes his hand, it is certain that her life will end by a hangman’s noose in front of an angry mob. All because Emily has been hiding an enormous secret for years-she was born a boy. As the wedding approaches, Emily’s parents realize the only way that she will be safe is if she is to escape the Dominion.” Since the description uses language like “born a boy” I’m not sure how accurate or respectful the book will be, especially since I haven’t read it, but it’s the only one I could find with a trans main character. Obviously trigger warnings for homophobia and probably transphobia by the sounds of it.
The Culling by Steven dos Santos (x) “Recruitment Day is here…if you fail, a loved one will die. For Lucian “Lucky” Spark, Recruitment Day means the Establishment, a totalitarian government, will force him to become one of five Recruits competing to join the ruthless Imposer task force. Each Recruit participates in increasingly difficult and violent military training for a chance to advance to the next level. Those who fail must choose an “Incentive”—a family member—to be brutally killed. If Lucky fails, he’ll have to choose death for his only living relative: Cole, his four-year-old brother.”
Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lee Block (bisexual main character, several secondary queer characters including a trans guy love interest for the main character) (x). “Her life by the sea in ruins, Pen has lost everything in the Earth Shaker that all but destroyed the city of Los Angeles. She sets out into the wasteland to search for her family, her journey guided by a tattered copy of Homer’s Odyssey. Soon she begins to realize her own abilities and strength as she faces false promises of safety, the cloned giants who feast on humans, and a madman who wishes her dead.”
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (x) is another novel set in a dystopia setting. “Sixteen-year-old Austin Szerba interweaves the story of his Polish legacy with the story of how he and his best friend , Robby, brought about the end of humanity and the rise of an army of unstoppable, six-foot tall praying mantises in small-town Iowa.” Austin is bisexual/pansexual though he never uses the words.
The First Twenty by Jennifer Lavoie(x) “Humanity was nearly wiped out when a series of global disasters struck, but pockets of survivors have managed to thrive and are starting to rebuild society. Peyton lives with others in what used to be a factory. When her adopted father is murdered by Scavengers, she is determined to bring justice to those who took him away from her. She didn’t count on meeting Nixie.”
Proxy by Alex London (x) “Knox was born into one of the City’s wealthiest families. A Patron, he has everything a boy could possibly want—the latest tech, the coolest clothes, and a Proxy to take all his punishments. When Knox breaks a vase, Syd is beaten. When Knox plays a practical joke, Syd is forced to haul rocks. And when Knox crashes a car, killing one of his friends, Syd is branded and sentenced to death. Syd is a Proxy. His life is not his own.” The character Syd is gay from what I’ve read.
Twixt by Sarah Diemer (x) “You wake upon the cold ground. As you struggle to rise, as your breath exhales like a ghost, you know only two things: You can’t remember who you are. And you’re being hunted.”
The End by Nora Olsen (x) I was reading an article (x) which said “my debut novel (The End) was an apocalyptic YA novel with lesbian, bisexual, and genderqueer main characters.” So while I haven’t read it you might wanna check it out (this article also talks about other dystopian queer novels). “When World War Three breaks out, seventeen-year-old Julia is on a school trip to Amsterdam, while fourteen-year-old Marly is trapped in a prison for delinquent girls. They both discover magical amulets, and try their best to save themselves and those around them. But it looks like their best will not be enough, as nuclear war threatens the survival of the human race. On her journey home to New York, Julia is joined by three other queer teens and the mysterious and alluring Ginger; lipstick lesbian Vikki; and five-thousand-year-old Skilly, who has an amulet that grants him eternal life.”
Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey (x) “Loup Garron was born and raised in Santa Olivia, an isolated, disenfranchised town next to a US military base inside a DMZ buffer zone between Texas and Mexico. A fugitive “Wolf-Man” who had a love affair with a local woman, Loup’s father was one of a group of men genetically-manipulated and used by the US government as a weapon. After her mother dies, Loup goes to live among the misfit orphans at the parish church, where they seethe from the injustices visited upon the locals by the soldiers. Eventually, the orphans find an outlet for their frustrations: They form a vigilante group to support Loup Garron who, costumed as their patron saint, Santa Olivia, uses her special abilities to avenge the town.” I think the main character is a lesbian and there is at least one other queer character.
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