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The Rainbow Ain't Never Been Enuf

On the Myth of LGBTQ+ Solidarity

Author Kaila Adia Story
Narrator Crystal Clarke
Audiobook Download
Beacon Press | Beacon Press Audio
On sale May 13, 2025 | 6 Hours and 52 Minutes | 9780807018583
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A queer Black feminist debunks the myth of rainbow solidarity, repositioning Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people at the forefront of queer pasts, presents, and futures

Your favorite Black queer studies professor Kaila Adia Story says the rainbow ain’t never been enough in this introduction to the current state of queer intersectionality, or lack thereof. Story argues that to be queer is to be political, and the carefully glittered façade of solidarity in the pride movement veils dangerous neoliberal ideals of apolitical queer embodiment. The rainbow as a symbol of communal solidarity is a hollow offering when cis white LGBTQ people are allowed to opt out of divesting from white supremacy, misogyny, and transphobia.

The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf fills a necessary gap in our understanding of how racism, transphobia, and antiblackness operate in liberal spaces. Black feminist and queer theorist Kaila Adia Story blends analysis, pop culture, and her lived experiences to explore the silencing practices of mainstream queer culture. She touches on cornerstone issues of the movement like

  • the whitewashing of queer history and commodification of pride celebrations
  • the appropriation of the Black and Latinx ball scene and culture
  • the racialized and gendered violence inflicted upon Black trans women
  • the exclusion of the lives and work of activists like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, and CeCe McDonald from queer history
  • the lack of remembrance and respect for the lives of the Black and Lantinx queer and trans people who have always been on the frontlines of queer liberation

Expanding beyond the classroom, Story utilizes her expertise as a scholar of queer theory to offer readers a comprehensive understanding of how racism operates in these spaces and what we can do to create a more equitable future.
“A sharp critique of racism, misogyny, and transphobia in the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An engaging study that highlights the need for intersectional awareness in the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Story does not shy away from ‘reading’ the world via an intersectional lens in this text. She is relentless in demanding that her readers understand that any so-called progressive homonormative vision of the future that is anti-Black and misogynistic will never be liberating for all of us for whom the rainbow is supposed to cover.”
—Darnell L. Moore, author of No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America and the host of the podcast Being Seen

“Kaila Adia Story has been honoring the legacy of Audre Lorde with her audacious and loving scholarship and by teaching for over a decade. Now, in this book, she honors all of us with her incisive accountability, her rigorous questions, and her genuine mission to free us all.”
—Alexis Pauline Gumbs, PhD, author of Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde

“With unflinching honesty and visionary clarity, this work is both a critique and a call to action, essential for anyone seeking to transform the future of queer liberation.”
—E. Patrick Johnson, author of Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women

“This book challenges us to debunk myths about LGBTQ+ solidarity and to rightfully demand that we anchor liberatory resistance in Black and Latinx queer/trans pasts, presents, and futures. All rainbows ain’t the same.”
—Treva B. Lindsey, professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University and author of America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice

“Through personal experience, Dr. Story shares what it means to live within multiple identities and dispels the myth that ‘the rainbow’ is a symbol of solidarity and safety for all. This brilliant nod to Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf is a dynamic contribution to Black studies, women’s and gender studies, and queer studies alike.”
—Yaba Blay, author of One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race

“Kaila Adia Story has gifted us an urgent, courageous, and mindful road map to becoming the community all LGBTQ+ people deserve and creating the world we all need. This book holds readers with such care as we walk through the very real pain Story tells of in beautiful prose and incisive analysis, and yet also holds those same readers in loving accountability. It’s past time for humanity to do a new thing, and Story shows us how to do it.”
—Eric Darnell Pritchard, author of Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy

“As a Black lesbian, I found myself deeply moved by every word in this book. It resonated with my experiences, my struggles, and my triumphs. I couldn’t put it down because I saw my own story reflected back at me—my pain, my encounters with discrimination, my disappointments with so-called white allies, and, most importantly, my joy. This book reminded me of an undeniable truth: we all we got. The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf is everything we need right now. In a world where Black trans women are silenced and erased, where violence against Black and Latinx queer and trans communities persists, this book offers a crucial intervention. It challenges us to remember the lives and contributions of those who have made the dream of queer liberation possible. You don’t have to be queer to read this book. You just need to be in search of humanity.”
—Bettina L. Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive
Kaila Adia Story, PhD is an associate professor in the Departments of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Pan-African Studies, as well as the Audre ‪Lorde Endowed Chair at the University of Louisville. She is also the co-creator, co-producer, and cohost of Louisville Public Media's Strange Fruit: Musings on Politics, Pop Culture, and Black Gay Life, a popular award-winning podcast. Her research examines the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians, and Black queer identity. In 2017, Dr. Story was named an LGBTQ+ community leader and change maker by NBC’s inaugural #Pride30. In 2021, she was recognized Michelle Obama's non-profit organization, Reach Higher for creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students in and out of higher education. Dr. Story was chosen as the 2022 Champion of Pride for the state of Kentucky by The Advocate magazine.
Kaila Adia Story View titles by Kaila Adia Story
PREFACE
On Remembering and Honoring the Rainbow

INTRODUCTION
On Why the Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf

CHAPTER ONE
On the Myth and Reality of the Rainbow

CHAPTER TWO
Your Black Ain’t Like Mine

CHAPTER THREE
We Ain’t Having a Ball

CHAPTER FOUR
The Stakes Is High

CHAPTER FIVE
Our First Pride Was a Riot

CHAPTER SIX
#WeAllWeGot

EPILOGUE
On Transcending the Rainbow and Living Beyond the Now

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

About

A queer Black feminist debunks the myth of rainbow solidarity, repositioning Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ people at the forefront of queer pasts, presents, and futures

Your favorite Black queer studies professor Kaila Adia Story says the rainbow ain’t never been enough in this introduction to the current state of queer intersectionality, or lack thereof. Story argues that to be queer is to be political, and the carefully glittered façade of solidarity in the pride movement veils dangerous neoliberal ideals of apolitical queer embodiment. The rainbow as a symbol of communal solidarity is a hollow offering when cis white LGBTQ people are allowed to opt out of divesting from white supremacy, misogyny, and transphobia.

The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf fills a necessary gap in our understanding of how racism, transphobia, and antiblackness operate in liberal spaces. Black feminist and queer theorist Kaila Adia Story blends analysis, pop culture, and her lived experiences to explore the silencing practices of mainstream queer culture. She touches on cornerstone issues of the movement like

  • the whitewashing of queer history and commodification of pride celebrations
  • the appropriation of the Black and Latinx ball scene and culture
  • the racialized and gendered violence inflicted upon Black trans women
  • the exclusion of the lives and work of activists like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, and CeCe McDonald from queer history
  • the lack of remembrance and respect for the lives of the Black and Lantinx queer and trans people who have always been on the frontlines of queer liberation

Expanding beyond the classroom, Story utilizes her expertise as a scholar of queer theory to offer readers a comprehensive understanding of how racism operates in these spaces and what we can do to create a more equitable future.

Reviews

“A sharp critique of racism, misogyny, and transphobia in the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An engaging study that highlights the need for intersectional awareness in the LGBTQ+ community.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Story does not shy away from ‘reading’ the world via an intersectional lens in this text. She is relentless in demanding that her readers understand that any so-called progressive homonormative vision of the future that is anti-Black and misogynistic will never be liberating for all of us for whom the rainbow is supposed to cover.”
—Darnell L. Moore, author of No Ashes in the Fire: Coming of Age Black & Free in America and the host of the podcast Being Seen

“Kaila Adia Story has been honoring the legacy of Audre Lorde with her audacious and loving scholarship and by teaching for over a decade. Now, in this book, she honors all of us with her incisive accountability, her rigorous questions, and her genuine mission to free us all.”
—Alexis Pauline Gumbs, PhD, author of Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde

“With unflinching honesty and visionary clarity, this work is both a critique and a call to action, essential for anyone seeking to transform the future of queer liberation.”
—E. Patrick Johnson, author of Honeypot: Black Southern Women Who Love Women

“This book challenges us to debunk myths about LGBTQ+ solidarity and to rightfully demand that we anchor liberatory resistance in Black and Latinx queer/trans pasts, presents, and futures. All rainbows ain’t the same.”
—Treva B. Lindsey, professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University and author of America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice

“Through personal experience, Dr. Story shares what it means to live within multiple identities and dispels the myth that ‘the rainbow’ is a symbol of solidarity and safety for all. This brilliant nod to Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf is a dynamic contribution to Black studies, women’s and gender studies, and queer studies alike.”
—Yaba Blay, author of One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race

“Kaila Adia Story has gifted us an urgent, courageous, and mindful road map to becoming the community all LGBTQ+ people deserve and creating the world we all need. This book holds readers with such care as we walk through the very real pain Story tells of in beautiful prose and incisive analysis, and yet also holds those same readers in loving accountability. It’s past time for humanity to do a new thing, and Story shows us how to do it.”
—Eric Darnell Pritchard, author of Fashioning Lives: Black Queers and the Politics of Literacy

“As a Black lesbian, I found myself deeply moved by every word in this book. It resonated with my experiences, my struggles, and my triumphs. I couldn’t put it down because I saw my own story reflected back at me—my pain, my encounters with discrimination, my disappointments with so-called white allies, and, most importantly, my joy. This book reminded me of an undeniable truth: we all we got. The Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf is everything we need right now. In a world where Black trans women are silenced and erased, where violence against Black and Latinx queer and trans communities persists, this book offers a crucial intervention. It challenges us to remember the lives and contributions of those who have made the dream of queer liberation possible. You don’t have to be queer to read this book. You just need to be in search of humanity.”
—Bettina L. Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive

Author

Kaila Adia Story, PhD is an associate professor in the Departments of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Pan-African Studies, as well as the Audre ‪Lorde Endowed Chair at the University of Louisville. She is also the co-creator, co-producer, and cohost of Louisville Public Media's Strange Fruit: Musings on Politics, Pop Culture, and Black Gay Life, a popular award-winning podcast. Her research examines the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians, and Black queer identity. In 2017, Dr. Story was named an LGBTQ+ community leader and change maker by NBC’s inaugural #Pride30. In 2021, she was recognized Michelle Obama's non-profit organization, Reach Higher for creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students in and out of higher education. Dr. Story was chosen as the 2022 Champion of Pride for the state of Kentucky by The Advocate magazine.
Kaila Adia Story View titles by Kaila Adia Story

Table of Contents

PREFACE
On Remembering and Honoring the Rainbow

INTRODUCTION
On Why the Rainbow Ain’t Never Been Enuf

CHAPTER ONE
On the Myth and Reality of the Rainbow

CHAPTER TWO
Your Black Ain’t Like Mine

CHAPTER THREE
We Ain’t Having a Ball

CHAPTER FOUR
The Stakes Is High

CHAPTER FIVE
Our First Pride Was a Riot

CHAPTER SIX
#WeAllWeGot

EPILOGUE
On Transcending the Rainbow and Living Beyond the Now

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

Additional formats

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