Drag Storytime: The ABC's of Queer History

Join us for Drag Storytime with Under the Umbrella Bookstore for our Pride 2024 Kickoff Author Event! Local performer, Mik Jäger, will be reading an excerpt of The ABC's of Queer History by Dr. Seema Yasmin. Following will be a discussion of the book and Dr. Yasmin's work with University of Utah professor Elizabeth Clement. This in-person event is open to the public and will take place at Urban Arts Gallery.

Please sign up for this free event on Eventbrite!

This event is free and open to all, with a requested entry donation of $5. Masks are encouraged. The venue is wheelchair accessible and ASL interpretation can be provided. Please let us know in advance if accommodations are needed.

About The ABCs of Queer History

This beautiful picture book brimming with P for Pride introduces a different kind of ABCs—not just words like apple, ball or cat, but rather what it means to be diverse, to be equitable, and to be inclusive. That no one counts unless we all count, and how we must open our eyes and ears, minds and hearts, to hear everyone’s story and understand and celebrate their experience.

The ABC’s of Queer History celebrates both joyful and challenging moments in queer history in the United States through rhyming verse and bright, colorful illustrations. This is a book of people, of ideas, of accomplishments and events. It’s a book about Allies and Ancestors, about Belonging and Being accepted, about Hope, Knowledge, and Love. About historic moments like Stonewall, and how it changed the world. And all about Trailblazers, like Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Josephine Baker, Harvey Milk, Barbara Jordan, George Takei, Elliot Page, and Sally Ride.

About Seema Yasmin

Dr. Seema Yasmin is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, medical doctor, and professor. She is director of the Stanford Health Communication Initiative, clinical assistant professor in Stanford University’s Department of Medicine, and visiting professor at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA where she teaches crisis management and communications. Yasmin was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news in 2017 with a team from The Dallas Morning News, and she is the recipient of two awards from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Her reporting appears in Rolling Stone, The New York Times, WIRED, Scientific American, and other outlets. She is a medical analyst for CNN and a correspondent for Conde Nast Entertainment. Her books paint vivid pictures about ourselves and how we interact with the world around us and include What the Fact?!: Finding the Truth in All the Noise, Muslim Women are Everything, the poetry collection If God Is a Virus and more.

About Mik Jager (he/they)

Mik Jäger is a captivating performer based in Salt Lake City. Mik is known for blending the art of drag with the power of storytelling and their own childhood nostalgia to create an unforgettable experience. With a passion for narrative and a flair for the dramatic, Mik Jäger often takes audiences on a journey that they didn't know they needed. He brings a unique blend of creativity and charisma, leaving a lasting impression wherever he goes.

About Elizabeth Clement (She/Her)

Elizabeth Alice Clement is the Aileen Clyde Professor of History at the University of Utah. Her first book, Love for Sale, won the Dixon Ryan Fox prize from the New York State Historical Society. Her current work focuses on preserving and disseminating materials about the AIDS epidemic in Utah which has resulted in an archival collection and an oral history project. A documentary film based on her oral histories, Quiet Heroes, premiered at the Sundance in 2018 and won an Emmy. Professor Clement is currently drafting a monograph titled The Reckoning: AIDS in Conservative America. Her work has been supported by the Melon Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Council of Learned Societies. Professor Clement has won numerous awards for her teaching and mentoring. When not in the classroom, she can be found biking, hiking, and bartering organic produce for charcuterie at a prominent overpriced market in Salt Lake City.