It’s hard to believe today, but when this website began fifteen years ago Queer Literature was defined almost exclusively as Gay and Lesbian. Times have certainly changed. And nowhere is this more apparent than in Rainbow Rainbow, Lydia Conklin’s new collection of ten queer short stories.
The word, “rainbow” is something of a leitmotif throughout these stories. And it’s fun spotting where they pop up. There are rainbow emojis, rainbow banners, rainbow-colored desserts, index cards. An imaginary band is named, Rainbow Rainbow. All of these hint at the theme of this book: namely, the diversity of what our community has become. There is a fifteen year-old transsexual with a surprisingly large internet following, a fifth-grader discovering their gender, a pansexual struggling with sex addiction and a lesbian couple grappling with the decision to have a child in a town called, Laramie Wyoming.
This is an unusual collection, because none of the these stories misses the mark. All of them are superb. For this queer reader, “Sunny Talks” is the most insightful. It’s the story of a forty-seven year-old cis woman who is asked to take her fifteen-year old transsexual nephew, Sunny, to an international conference. Along the way it is revealed that Sunny’s aunt is eager to begin her own transition. In these troubled, hateful times, it’s nice to read a story that treats these characters with empathy and even warmth. But this is not two-dimensional propaganda. These characters have character defects. In other words, they’re human. At times, they judge each other’s bodies harshly–sizing up when they began their transitions.
There’s Paulie G from Norway, who, at twenty, is a community elder. Paulie G. transitioned late–“late” is seventeen–so his hips are wide, a detail he’s disguised in his videos. My heart pulls for him as he shuffles by.
Of course, these judgements hint at deeper, personal issues. As Sammy’s middle-aged aunt wonders if for her it might be too late.
I should be grateful that the world changed in time for Sunny. If I were his mother, my feeling would be pure. But as it is, I wish the shift hadn’t happened too late for me to ever be beautiful in my right body but too soon for me to die in peace never having known another way.
Reading these exquisitely written short stories, Queer Reader is reminded of just how far we’ve come in the past fifteen years. And how much farther we have to go.
Needless to say, Queer Reader strongly recommends this book of superb short stories. Lydia Conklin is certainly an author to watch.
Rainbow Rainbow is published by Catapult Books.
October 6, 2022