Queer Intentions

This immersive, accessible and thought-provoking book takes the reader on a journey to explore the pros and cons, the myths and realities of life for LGBTQ+ people today. Shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize 2020 ‘Eloquent, empathetic and passionate, this book will not just resonate with a new generation of queer people, but with all those who seek to be their allies. A brilliant book.’ - Owen Jones, author of The Establishment. 

Today, the options and freedoms on offer to LGBTQ+ people living in the West are greater than ever before. But is same-sex marriage, improved media visibility and corporate endorsement all it’s cracked up to be? At what cost does this acceptance come? And who is getting left behind, particularly in parts of the world where LGBTQ+ rights aren’t so advanced? Combining intrepid journalism with her own personal experience, in Queer Intentions, Amelia Abraham searches for the answers to these urgent challenges, as well as the broader question of what it means to be queer right now. With curiosity, good humour and disarming openness, Amelia takes the reader on a thought-provoking and entertaining journey. Join her as she cries at the first same-sex marriage in Britain, loses herself in the world’s biggest drag convention in L.A., marches at Pride parades across Europe, visits both a transgender model agency and the Anti-Violence Project in New York to understand the extremes of trans life today, parties in the clubs of Turkey’s underground LGBTQ+ scene, and meets a genderless family in progressive Stockholm. 'A landmark exploration into what it means to be queer today' – DAZED

A beautifully written, personal, intimate voyage into what it is to be queer. Incredibly eloquent, empathetic and passionate, this book will not just resonate with a new generation of queer people, but with all those who seek to be their allies. A brilliant book, I loved Queer Intentions! Absolutely fascinating and endlessly entertaining, but so much more than that. It’s also an important read that will resonate with anyone who’s spent more than a minute thinking about gender and sexuality and what it means to identify as queer in 2019, or who’s ever wondered where we go from here, An intersectional and insightful journey through the vast nuances of the queer experience, This incredibly funny, thought-provoking and immersive exploration of the pros and cons, myths and realities of life for LGBTQ+ people today . . . includes plenty of clubbing, pride parties, joy, shame and lesbian drama, It’s really interesting . . . a journey through LGBTQ+ culture . . . questioning lots of things but in a very interesting, self-effacing, relatable way and I think it’s rather cool; I think she’s rather cool actually, I like her . . . it’s a good book’

Amelia Abraham (b. 1991) is a journalist from London. She has worked as an editor at Vice, Refinery29 and Dazed. Her main interest is LGBTQ+ identity politics, and she has written on this topic for the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent, the Sunday Times, the New Statesman, ES Magazine, i-D and Vogue. She also writes about feminist issues, human-rights, health, arts and culture and sex. Queer Intentions is her first book.

Book Partnerships

For the Fans