My dear friend Kristi over at The Story Siren is doing something fabulous this week and next. From August 9 - 20 she will be highlighting the awesome LGBT literature you can find for Young Adults these days.Not only is she posting book reviews, but she has guest posts from authors and bloggers alike on the subject. There are also book giveaways as well and some are open to international entries!I don't think there were any LGBT young adult books when I was growing up. I wasn't even really aware of what homosexuality was. Not that my family or friends shunned it, more like I didn't even know it was an issue. No one I knew was gay and no one I knew OF was gay. I always felt that you loved who you loved and didn't think twice about anything else.When I grew up and suddenly had friends who said they were gay, I didn't think twice about it again. It's nice to be able to check out hot guys with a good guy friend! And check out hot girls with your husband (apparently my husband and I have the same taste in women. Ha!) When I had my first long term relationship it was with another girl. I was lucky I had no negative encounters with family or friends and as I grew up and discovered who I was I had a lot of love and support around me.That is NOT always the case. I think there needs to be MORE literature out there that relates to a wider range of people. Not everyone in the world is straight, white and American! (Shock! I'm CANADIAN! ;))There needs to be more literature where the gay character is not a stereotypical, flamboyant or butch side-kick. Where the Asian character is not a cellist or math whiz. Where the non-white, non-straight characters are secondary and parodies of themselves.When you grow up you look to books to find yourself. You want to relate to the people you are reading about. Always being told you fit in with the minority does not do wonders for the self-esteem or self-respect. When I was entering my relationship I didn't have any books in my life that had situations anything like mine. I always cheered when I would hear of a same-sex relationship with two girls. When Willow and Tara got together on Buffy the Vampire Slayer they were the only ones I could relate to (only I was sadly much less magical than they were!)You need to grow up and know you belong. You need to grow up and know you matter. Celebrating LGBT literature is so important. Finally books that don't put same-sex or transsexual people in a lump category of caricature side-kick.I have been discovering a whole bunch of books I have never heard of before and learning more about some books that I have seen in stores but never really picked up and checked out what they were about.I urge you to check out Kristi's LGBT Lit Days if you can. There have been some powerful guest posts and I know there will be more to come!(Thanks to Kristi for also letting me steal her promo button! ;))