We Both Laughed in Pleasure

{{Infobox book

|name = We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan, 1961-1991

|author = Lou Sullivan

|image = File:We Both Laughed in Pleasure.jpg

|caption = First edition

|editor = Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma

|country = United States

|language = English

|subject = {{hlist|Transgender rights in the United States|HIV}}

|genre = Diary

|publisher = Nightboat Books

|pub_date = 17 September 2019

}}

We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan, 1961-1991 is a book of writing from the diaries of transgender rights activist Lou Sullivan, edited by Ellis Martin and Zach Ozma. It includes a foreword by trans studies professor Susan Stryker.{{cite web|last=Mac|first=Amos|author-link=Amos Mac|date=September 23, 2019|title=Lou Sullivan's Diaries Show the Transformative Power of Queer History|url=https://www.them.us/story/interview-we-laughed-in-pleasure-lou-sullivan|access-date=July 12, 2021|website=them.}}

The book discusses Sullivan's childhood, his transition, his push for heterosexuality to be removed as a criterion for medical transition and final days living with HIV.{{cite magazine | last=Lybarger | first=Jeremy | title=Lou Sullivan's Diaries Are a Radical Testament to Trans Happiness | magazine=The New Yorker | url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lou-sullivans-diaries-are-a-radical-testament-to-trans-happiness | access-date=July 12, 2021| date=September 16, 2019}}

Reception

We Both Laughed in Pleasure was generally well received. Slate's Crispin Long said the book was "ripe with mirth, confusion, lust, despair, hope, and charm."{{Cite web|last=Long|first=Crispin|date=2019-09-24|title=Meet Lou Sullivan, the Pioneer Who Taught the World That Trans Men Can Be Gay|url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2019/09/lou-sullivan-trans-man-journals-review-we-both-laughed-in-pleasure.html|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Slate Magazine|language=en}} The Nation's Sasha Geffen said it "dispenses with the ubiquitous narrative of transition as a dreary but necessary inconvenience."{{Cite news|last=Geffen|first=Sasha|date=2019-10-09|title=The Revolutionary Joy of Trans Life|journal=The Nation |language=en-US|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/lou-sullivan-we-both-laughed-in-pleasure-review/|access-date=2022-02-06|issn=0027-8378}} Jeremy Lybarger, writing for The New Yorker, called it "a radical testament to trans happiness," saying it was "chatty and tender, casually poetic and voraciously sexual."{{Cite magazine|last=Lybarger|first=Jeremy|date=2019-09-16|title=Lou Sullivan's Diaries Are a Radical Testament to Trans Happiness|url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lou-sullivans-diaries-are-a-radical-testament-to-trans-happiness|access-date=2022-02-06|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}} Chicago Review's Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué expanded on others' reviews, writing that We Both Laughed in Pleasure is "a deeply erotic book. Sullivan's diaries record in great detail his sexual exploits, romantic infatuations, and complex personal relationships. These reminiscences are written in a style somewhere between childlike giddiness and deft description, where you can sense that Sullivan is turning himself on with every entry he writes."{{Cite web|last=Ojeda-Sagué|first=Gabriel|date=2020-02-01|title="Something Happens Under the Bridge": Three Recent Books by Gay Trans Men|url=https://www.chicagoreview.org/something-happens-under-the-bridge-three-recent-books-by-gay-trans-men/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=Chicago Review|language=en-US}}

We Both Laughed in Pleasure won the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Nonfiction in 2020.{{cite web|last=Aviles|first=Gwen|date=May 1, 2020|title=Lambda Literary announces 25 winning books for annual Lammy Awards|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/best-lgbtq-books-lammy-awards-lambda-literary-n1215746|access-date=July 12, 2021|website=NBC News}}

Citations

Category:2019 non-fiction books

Category:Transgender non-fiction books

Category:LGBTQ literature in the United States

Category:2010s LGBTQ literature

Category:Lambda Literary Award–winning works

Category:Books published posthumously

Category:Diaries

Category:2019 LGBTQ-related literary works

Category:Books about trans men