Gaytheist: Coming Out of My Orthodox Childhood -- Lonnie Mann, Paperback

Starred Review from Kirkus Reviews. "The animated evolution of a queer boy from his strict religious upbringing to a liberated adolescence. . . . Tokyo-based couple Mann and Gatts integrate their illustrative and authorial talents in this debut graphic memoir vividly detailing Mann's coming-of-age while cloaking his burgeoning homosexual feelings."

A coming-of-age graphic novel memoir about a young man who, growing up in an Orthodox Jewish community, realizes he's gay and struggles to reconcile his faith with who he is.

Lonnie's Orthodox Jewish community has always been clear: it's not okay to be gay. Growing up in a devout family and going to school at a yeshiva, he's told by his parents, his teachers, and his friends that being gay is a sin and an abomination. But as he gets older, he realizes that he likes boys, and wonders what kind of life he will be able to live. As Lonnie expands his world beyond the yeshiva to theater camp, college classes, and movie nights, he sees that the life he wants isn't compatible with the life of his parents -- and his whole religious community.

This emotional graphic novel explores the fissures between identity and religion and charts Lonnie's journey from a kid who loved the rules of the Orthodox Jewish tradition to becoming increasingly independent and defiant, embracing his gay identity and developing his own chosen family.

Author: Lonnie Mann
Publisher: Street Noise Books
Published: 02/06/2024
Pages: 260
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781951491277

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2023
Publishers Weekly 01/15/2024

About the Author
Lonnie Mann grew up in Long Island, New York, and has been reading comics and drawing his whole life. He studied illustration and cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York. And he has published comics in various anthologies. Lonnie currently lives with his spouse Ryan Gatts in Tokyo Japan. This is his debut graphic novel.

Ryan Gatts grew up in North Carolina. They studied animation at the Savannah College of Art & Design and later worked as a videogame technical artist in Seattle. Ryan worked with their husband Lonnie Mann to create the art for Lonnie's graphic memoir. Ryan and Lonnie live together with their pet rabbit Kinako in Tokyo, Japan.