The Queer Zine Library in Hong Kong That’s Finding a Global Community

The success of traveling Queer Reads Library hinges on independent publishing, local community, and a worldwide following

Courtesy Queer Reads Library

By Shea Fitzpatrick

When 10 children’s books with LGBTQ+ themes were banned from the public shelves of Hong Kong libraries last year, creating a queer-centered library felt like a natural move for artist-curator Kaitlin Chan and independent publisher Beatrix Pang. As friends and queer-identifying people living in Hong Kong, they lamented what they saw as a loss of representation, and shared a lifelong fondness for libraries as accessible places of discovery.

In October 2018, they shared what would would become Queer Reads Library (QRL) at Plug Magazine’s CultureFest in October 2018: a traveling collection of independent queer publications and facsimiles of vintage zines, all pulled from Chan and Pang’s personal bookshelves. Today, QRL holds over 100 international titles accumulated by a sprawling network of queer readers and artists around the globe.

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