Author: Read with Pride

There’s something undeniably magnetic about a pool full of gay men in Speedos. But beyond the obvious eye candy, swimming has quietly become one of the most beloved sports in the LGBTQ+ community, and the reasons go way deeper than just aesthetics (though we’re not complaining about those either). Whether you’re doing laps at your …

Making a Splash: Why Swimming is a Gay FavoriteRead More

There’s something undeniably romantic about the connection between rider and horse, the trust, the discipline, the elegance of movement. For the LGBTQ+ community, equestrian sports have quietly become a surprisingly welcoming space, offering opportunities for expression and competition that many other athletic arenas still struggle to provide. And if you’re a fan of MM romance …

Saddled with Pride: The World of Gay EquestrianismRead More

www.readwithpride.com There’s something beautifully defiant about a bunch of gay men choosing to play rugby. For decades, rugby represented everything the LGBTQ+ community supposedly wasn’t: rough, aggressive, hypermasculine. But in 1995, six brave men walked into a London pub and said, “Screw that narrative.” What started as a small gathering at the Central Station pub …

Rucking for Representation: The Rise of Gay RugbyRead More

There’s something undeniably queer about tennis. Maybe it’s the individual spotlight, the fierce independence, or the fact that success is measured entirely on your own terms. Whatever it is, tennis has been a surprising haven for LGBTQ+ athletes throughout history, even when the rest of the world wasn’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat. From …

Game, Set, Match: The Queer History of TennisRead More

There’s something magical about watching a figure skater glide across the ice, the way they transform cold, hard surfaces into canvases for breathtaking artistry. The spins, the jumps, the costumes that shimmer under arena lights. But beneath all that sequined beauty lies a story that’s been hiding in plain sight for over a century: figure …

Gliding with Grace: Figure Skating's LGBTQ+ LegacyRead More

Soccer, or football, depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on, has always been more than just a game. It’s passion, culture, and community wrapped up in 90 minutes of athletic excellence. But for far too long, LGBTQ+ players had to hide who they were to play the sport they loved. Thankfully, that’s changing. …

The Beautiful Game: Soccer's Gay RevolutionRead More

There’s something inherently queer about track and field: the unapologetic display of physicality, the tight uniforms, the raw vulnerability of putting everything on the line in front of thousands of spectators. And yet, for decades, LGBTQ+ athletes sprinted, jumped, and threw in silence, closeted by a sports culture that demanded they hide their authentic selves …

Track and Field: Sprinting Toward EqualityRead More

There’s something electric about the sound of sneakers squeaking on hardwood, the swish of a net, and the roar of a crowd. Basketball has always been a sport of connection, teammates reading each other’s movements, building trust, and creating something bigger than themselves. But for decades, one question hung in the air like a contested …

Shooting Hoops: Gay Presence in BasketballRead More

Let’s talk about a sport that doesn’t usually make headlines in LGBTQ+ spaces: golf. Yeah, that one with the plaid pants, the hushed commentators, and the little white ball that somehow costs more than your monthly streaming subscriptions combined. But here’s the thing, while other sports have had their loud, activist moments (and rightfully so), …

On the Green: The Quiet Inclusion of GolfRead More

Sydney Harbour during World War II wasn’t just a strategic naval base: it was a crucible of connections, fleeting moments, and stolen kisses under the shadow of uncertainty. When American sailors began flooding into Sydney in 1942, the port city transformed into a vibrant, chaotic melting pot where thousands of young men from different corners …

Waiting for the Tide: Australia's Wartime PortsRead More

War has a way of stripping everything down to what matters most. When bombs fall and empires crumble, love doesn’t wait for permission, it just happens. And during the liberation of Italy between 1943 and 1945, amidst the rubble of fascism and the chaos of Allied advance, countless untold stories of forbidden romance bloomed in …

Vines and Victory: Romance During the Italian LiberationRead More

There’s something about bombs falling from the sky that puts everything into perspective. When the sirens wailed across London during the Blitz, people had seconds to make a choice: take shelter or take your chances. But for some men loving men in 1940s London, the air raid shelters became more than just refuges from German …

Love in the Air Raid Shelters: London Under the BlitzRead More

History has a way of hiding its most intimate stories in the margins. Between the official war records and sanitized accounts of battles lies another narrative, one of connection, tenderness, and quiet rebellion against a world determined to keep certain loves invisible. Welcome to the Western Front, 1916. Where mud, blood, and fear created an …

Trenches and Tender Moments: WWI's Quiet BondsRead More

There’s something achingly romantic about Berlin in the 1920s: a city that sparkled with sequins and champagne while dancing on the edge of an abyss. For a brief, glorious moment between the collapse of Imperial Germany and the rise of the Third Reich, Berlin became the queer capital of the world. It was a place …

Cabarets and Courtesies: Berlin's Weimar TwilightRead More

www.readwithpride.com Picture this: the USS Enterprise cutting through the Pacific waters, 1943. Below deck, in the cramped quarters where sailors sleep stacked like sardines, two men exchange a glance that lasts a second too long. That look: charged with everything they can’t say: could cost them everything. Their careers. Their freedom. Maybe even their lives. …

Anchored Hearts: Gay Sailors in the Pacific TheaterRead More

Imagine falling in love while your entire world is crumbling. Now imagine that love itself could get you killed, not just by the Nazi occupiers hunting your Resistance cell, but potentially by your own comrades. Welcome to occupied Paris, 1940-1944, where being gay and being a freedom fighter meant living with secrets layered upon secrets, …

Secrets and Silhouettes: The Paris ResistanceRead More

History rarely tells the whole story. And when it comes to LGBTQ+ lives during wartime, the silence is deafening. We’ve been digging deep into Read with Pride’s historical MM romance collection, exploring stories that imagine what life was like for queer men in some of history’s most challenging periods. Today, we’re looking at a particularly …

Duty and Devotion: Inside the Imperial Japanese ArmyRead More

The North African desert in 1941 wasn’t just hot, it was a different world entirely. British soldiers stationed in Libya and Egypt found themselves in an endless expanse of sand, where temperatures soared to unbearable highs during the day and plummeted at night. There were no pubs, no dance halls, no weekend passes home. Just …

Sand and Solidarity: The North African CampaignRead More

When you think about World War II romance, your mind probably doesn’t immediately jump to the frozen hell of the Eastern Front. And honestly? Fair. The Eastern Front was one of the most brutal theaters of war in human history: temperatures plummeting to -40°C, supply lines collapsing, and death lurking around every snow-covered corner. But …

Winter Whispers: The Eastern Front's Hidden LoveRead More

Some symbols carry weight beyond words. The pink triangle is one of them: a piece of fabric that started as a mark of persecution and transformed into a beacon of resistance, memory, and ultimately, pride. For those who wore it unwillingly in the darkest chapter of modern history, it represented unimaginable suffering. For the LGBTQ+ …

Strength in the Shadows: The Resilience of the Pink TriangleRead More