Newsletter #6: Three New Book Recs, Upcoming Events, Dating as a Queer Nomad, and More

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This week, we have a lot of useful resources for you, including some new LGBTQ+ book recs, a paid journalism fellowship, and a queer couchsurfing hangout!

Three New LGBTQ+ Book Recs

I was blown away by Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian — which Ed Yong calls “a love letter to the messy, wondrous, complicated, binary-defying nature of the natural world”.

Part memoir, part science book, Kaishian explores the non-binary nature of slugs, snails, and mushrooms — as well as her own “multifaceted identity as Armenian and Irish, as a woman, as neurodivergent, as queer.” A must-read!

Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature

The Abounding Queerness of Nature

Spiegel & GrauSpiegel & Grau

Love in Exile by Shon Faye is a deeply personal memoir about how we define love — as individuals, as a society, and, in her case, as a trans woman dating cis men. Faye takes us along on first dates, breakups, and the process of unpacking and unlearning the gender roles and societal expectations she grew up with:

Love in Exile

Check out Love in Exile - <p><b>A <i>Sunday Times </i>(London) bestseller. Named a Most Anticipated Book by <i>Vogue</i>, <i>Vulture</i>, and <i>ELLE </i>UK.</b><br><b><br>“Uncommonly wise and honest. <i>Love in Exile</i> flooded me with a sense of continuity and hope. A masterpiece from start to finish.” —Maggie Nelson, author of <i>Like Love</i></b><br><br><b>“Should be required reading for anyone who wants to join a dating app, love ethically, or experience true partnership with other humans.” —Melissa Febos, author of <i>Girlhood </i>and <i>The Dry Season</i><br><br>A disarmingly wry treatise-cum-memoir on love in a lonely age by a celebrated thinker and columnist for <i>Vogue</i>.<br><br></b>Love is supposedly attainable for us all. But for most people, especially women, success with “love”—the yardstick we use to measure our value across romance, parenthood, sex, religion, and friendship—can feel out of reach, an experience frequently ascribed to a personal failing. This sense of unworthiness is, according to Shon Faye, “a form of <i>exile</i>: an intentional, punitive banishment that serves political ends.” Faye, a trans woman in her thirties, has felt isolated from love for as long as she can remember. So after the devastation of her first heartbreak, she figured it was time to find out why.<br><br>The subsequent investigation, <i>Love in Exile</i>, boldly reframes love’s elusiveness as a collective question. Conversationally frank and intellectually ambitious, these eight voice-driven essays unpack the norms governing love in our time with the insight of a shrewd outsider. Here, Faye examines her breakups with cis men alongside lessons from Lana Del Rey and Alain de Botton, explores the lovelessness that fueled her time as an addict, tackles the relationship between feminine self-worth and motherhood, and finally attempts to discover genuine self-acceptance.<br><br>The result is a dive into universal, deeply felt questions about love, reframed through a radical, revolutionary perspective. Written with the humor and rigor that made Faye an internationally bestselling writer, <i>Love in Exile</i> is a thrilling reckoning with love in our time.</p> by Shon Faye on Bookshop.org US!

FSG OriginalsFSG Originals

The Rainbow Trap by Kevin Guyan is deep dive into the demographic data that we use to understand and define queer lives. From dating apps to border crossings, it takes a critical look at the categories mainstream institutions use to sort LGBTQ+ people — and the trade-offs that come along with being “included”.

Although it’s primarily based on data from the U.K., it’s relevant to anyone who’s ever felt like the checkboxes they encounter don’t leave room for them:

Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion

Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion

Bloomsbury AcademicBloomsbury Academic

Check out our Bookshop.org page for more LGBTQ+ book recs — if you buy a book using one of our links, we get a small percentage to help support our work!

A Virtual Hangout with Quouch

Quouch is an invite-only queer couchsurfing app run by Nora and Lisbeth from Berlin. Couchsurfing and housesitting can be a great way to see the world on a budget, and Quouch makes it easy by connecting LGBTQ+ travelers.

They’re hosting several events this summer, from picnics and slumber parties in Berlin to online hangouts. You can fill out the form here to sign up!

• 15 June, 3-6 pm – Picnic @Tempelhofer Feld (Berlin) 🧃🍑
• 13 July 6:30-9 pm – Queer Hangout @Tempelhofer Feld (Berlin) 🌞✨
• 27 July, 5–6 pm (CET) – Queer Online Hangout 💻🌈

Dating as a Queer Digital Nomad

The digital nomad world can feel pretty heteronormative, so I was pleased to see this interview with Hannah Dixon of Digital Nomad Kit and Rainbow Remote.

Hannah talks which countries she visits (and avoids) as a queer person, what it’s like being in an open marriage, and how to meet other queer people on the road. As a queer digital nomad myself, I relate to a lot of it! Check it out here:

Queer-Friendly Professional Communities

In case you missed it, our latest post features a round-up of 16 Python conferences around the world. This is one of the most queer-friendly tech communities that we know of — and many of these events offers scholarships and stipends:

Seeking an LGBTQ-friendly tech community? Try one of these Python conferences (2025)

Heya - it’s Matt (they/them) from Melbourne, Australia, one of Remote Queer’s writers and co-founders. I’ve been working as a Linux systems administration for over 15 years, and I’m here to dispel the notion that working in tech is just for straight white tech bros vibe-coding

Remote QueerRemote Queer

If journalism is more your thing, don’t miss the opportunity to apply for a trip to the Online News Association’s conference in New Orleans, September 10-13. Up to “10 independent journalists working in the creator ecosystem” will be invited to join the Project C Creator Cohort and get a $1,000 travel stipend.

Project C is a community for creator journalists — from to Beehiiv to Tiktok — and cultivates an unapologetically left-leaning, queer-friendly environment:

🚨 APPLY! Join the Project C Creator Cohort @ ONA25

Registration, travel, coaching, and connection included!

And one more thing — the team behind Flytrap Media, a worker-owned, feminist media group, is launching a new educational series. The first event is a Feminist Media Literacy Workshop with Nicole Froio on July 26. Check it out here:

Thanks so much for reading! We hope you found some of these resources useful — and remember, you can just hit reply if you have any questions or feedback.

Saul & the RQ Team

This article was written by Saul with the support of our members and donors. You can become a paid subscriber or buy me a coffee here:

Saul is writing articles about remote work and travel.

Your support allows me to research and write helpful resources for LGBTQ+ remote workers and digital nomads.

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