Be Gay, Do Crime: Everyday Acts of Queer Resistance and Rebellion

by Zane McNeill (Editor)

As communities are boldly rising to challenge capitalism, white supremacy, and authoritarianism, Be Gay, Do Everyday Acts of Queer Resistance and Rebellion is your ultimate guide to LGBTQ+ resilience and rebellion. Packed with daily snapshots of radical queer history, this book celebrates the bold, the brave, and the beautifully defiant moments that have shaped the fight for justice. Ever wonder why the Stonewall protests became an uprising or what the earliest acts of queer resistance looked like? How about the ways queer communities have organized against oppression across the globe? Be Gay, Do Crime dives into these stories and so many more - from fierce acts of resistance to joyful victories - bringing to life the rich, diverse history of LGBTQ+ liberation. By situating readers within a larger pattern of struggle, these everyday acts counter the erasure of queer people from history and serve as a reminder that our struggles are part of a broader fight against systemic violence and dehumanization. But, this isn't just a history book; it's a rallying cry. Flip to any page, soak up some inspiration, and join the legacy of resistance.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, History, Social Justice, Gay, Politics

304 pages, Paperback

Published September 16, 2025

Reviews

[Morgan]

Be Gay, Do Crime covers LGBT+ resistance and rebellion broken down in a daily history. Histories ranged from births of prominent activists to protests and movements. I really enjoyed sitting down with this and limiting myself to one month at a time. Some of the histories are brief but still do a great job building the overall message. I highly recommend picking this one up!

[Josh L]

Works far better as a coffee table book to flip through than as a cover to cover read tbh

[Philomena]

Important and impactful. A must read for the discouraged AND the hopeful revolutionary within all of us!

[Jay Hess]

In terms of a queer history book, it was great. It covered many important moments in Queer history.

But I gave it 4 stars because it is titled "Everyday Acts of Queer Resistance and Rebellion" then gave us info on things not about resistance and rebellion. For example, May 6 was about the Institute of Sexual Science in Berlin being broken into and occupied by Nazi supporting youth.

Also seemingly half the dates are of when people are born/died then they talk about what that person did in life but not necessarily on the designated day. Existence is resistence so I guess the argument could be made that their birthday counts.

[Kieran]

The only daily aspirations I need. This is an extremely well organized project on queer history. It's a must read, a starting point for learning queer history. Some dates don't seem right or are inconsistent across the entry, but this may be attributed to storytelling methods while collecting the data for this project.
My one note is that I believe there should have included more on the Pulse shooting than there was. There wasn't really an entry for it at all. (I accept my bias for this though)

[Zack]

Just for the sake of awareness, because I didn’t realize this, this book is not a single nonfiction narrative but a series of on-this-day historical episodes for each day of the year. The stories are compelling and the history is vital but it does end up kind of feeling like something I would read on my phone.

[Jdetrick]

This is a lot less depressing than the former Working Class History book I read, with a better balance between depressing and uplifting stories. There's so much great information here, although I do feel sometimes they mention the same people and events multiple times.

[Conor Moynihan]

A must have for any person of LGBTQ+ library. For the important/historic dates they don’t teach in schools.

[Caris]

Loads of lesser known facts, I can't wait to dive deeper into some of the events and people mentioned