Genderqueer Author Jason June Talks YA

Jason June, like Mary-Kate (without the hyphen) is a genderqueer author who writes children and young adult (YA) stories that are not only fun and flamboyantly wacky, but also queer-inclusive. His powerful and inspiring, LGBTQ characters are helping to change the mindset of the world we live in today. Jason June wants every child and teenager to know that it is OK for them to be their authentic selves despite their age or environment that surround them. 

Based in Austin, Texas, Jason June’s work includes the pun-filled picture book Whobert Whover, Owl Detective, and Porcupine Cupid, a queer-inclusive Valentine’s story. Later this year, he will release his whimsical, Scholastic, chapter book series, Mermicorn Island, and a YA rom-com called Jay’s Gay Agenda. 

Jason June took some time to chat with OFM about his books, the importance of queer representation for young people, and the power of embracing who you are.

Thank you for taking some time to chat with me about your work writing queer-inclusive youth stories. Have you always had a passion for writing?
I have always had a passion for it. The first thing I can actually remember putting pen to paper for, we were copying word-for-word the script of Labyrinth, the David Bowie film. I was 7 or 8, and I wrote that out so my friends and I could perform it. From there, just that physical act of writing was such an eye-opening experience for me that I could create my own world and my own stories. When I was 10, I moved on to Pokémon fanfiction, then high school creative writing courses, and here we are now. 

What made you gravitate toward children and young adult books?
I have a firm belief that the world is full of unicorns and rainbows, and you can write more about unicorns and rainbows in the kid and YA space. As we grow up, we kind of get a bit more jaded about life and about the magic that really does exist in the world, and I feel like kids and teens are so much more ready to discuss the fact that whether you are writing fantasy or contemporary, these googly feelings of warm bubbles that I would call magic exists in the world.

Your latest book, Porcupine Cupid, is a Valentine’s story and came out in December. Can you tell us more about it?
Absolutely. Porcupine Cupid is my picture book illustrated by Lori Richmond. It is a queer-inclusive Valentine’s story, so Porcupine is really obsessed with love. He is actually a physical embodiment of the emotion of love, and he goes around and pokes his forest neighbors with his quills, but none of them can figure out why. So, they come together and hold this big meeting to solve the pokey Porcupine problem, and at this meeting, they meet the love of their life, which was Porcupine’s plan all along. 

That is what the whole romance genre is all about. You will see in rom-coms, people being like, ‘Oh, this is my best friend.’ They can’t fall in love with them, but they do. Or, this is supposed to be a rebound person, ‘I can’t fall in love with them,’ but they do. Porcupine is sort of introducing that concept for our youngest readers. That love strikes us, and it is not in our control. It is how we talk that feeling out that creates the best magical coupling.

How has Porcupine Cupid been received?
So far, so good! With holiday books, it is weird because they are always published two or three months before the holiday itself. For Valentine’s Day, that means your book comes out in December, which is the height of Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, so nobody is really looking for it. Now we are in the heart of Valentine’s season, and what has been really special is getting reader reviews saying they see the queer cues, they feel really included, and they feel this is a holiday book that is literally for everybody. It is not just focusing on one couple that kind of shuts out other people that might not necessarily look like them.

What is the overall message you hope your books convey, and what do you hope audiences take away from them?
With my books, I think my trifecta is zaniness, heart, and whimsy. I hope people come away from any of my book feeling like there truly is magic in the world. That does not necessarily have to be literal magic. I have a series coming out called Mermicorn Island about unicorn-mermaid hybrids that have magical powers, but in my other upcoming contemporary YA, Jay’s Gay Agenda, I hope that people can see that there is magic in our interactions and relationships. They have this escape in my books that remind them, especially now since we went through such a tough year, there are great things about being a human, being in a community, and being together. 

Now that you mentioned Mermicorn Island and Jay’s Gay Agenda, those are some of your upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for. Can you tell us more about them?
You got it. Mermicorm Island is my chapter book series with Scholastic. It is geared towards 7–10-year-old children, and it is about a unicorn-mermaid hybrid called a Mermicorn who lives under the sea in Mermicorn Island and finds a treasure chest full of magic shells. The series follows the shenanigans focusing on a specific shell in each book. 

What I am really excited about for that is that we have a pair of gay dolphin dads that will be featured in the third book, Too Many Dolphins! It just shows that Mermicorn Island is literally a place for everybody. Whether you are magical or a creature we are familiar with in our world, there are still mirrors to relationships, couples, love, and friendships that we would see in the real world.

Related article: Chit-Chatting with Local Author Angie Cavallari

Jay’s Gay Agenda is my young adult contemporary debut, and that is a rom-com geared towards queer audiences. It is really for anybody, but it shows that queer people can be the protagonist in rom-coms too. That story follows Jay Collier, and he lives in rural eastern Washington. He is the only out queer kid at his whole school and has been for his whole high school career. He is starting his senior year, and what’s a shock to a lot of people is that this still exists, even in 2021. There are still kids who are the only queer person in their small-town communities. Jay’s mom gets a job in Seattle, so he moves to the big city, and he is finally around other queer people. 

Back in his old small town, he created a whole to-do list that he called his “gay agenda.” Everything he wants to finally do when he meets another gay boy. Now in Seattle, he gets to start crossing items off the list. The book follows all those adventures, the love, the lust, it is a sex positive story, and it really focuses on the mistakes, and yet all the passion and love you can still find even when you are kind of messing up. When you are finally around other people that see you as a romantic and sexual being. 

Have you received any backlash for writing books with LGBTQ themes?
Not quite yet. My first book, Whobert Whover, came out during the summer of 2017, and then I had this big gap. My second book is Porcupine Cupid. So, it came out three and a half years later. While Whobet was very flamboyant, he wasn’t openly (gay.) In my mind, he is queer, but it is never discussed in the book. Now, the three and a half years spent writing a lot of heavily queer themes, I am expecting to have maybe a little bit of backlash. However, that is something I am not really going to concern myself about. Whether people want to create this backlash or not, I am here to spread love. I am here to show that love has all kinds of definitions, that it is for all kinds of people. That is what I am going to focus on. 

I have had a couple times where people have been concerned about me coming to a school for a visit because I am openly gay and genderqueer. I wear makeup, I wear traditionally feminine clothing because that is what’s overriding my energy. My feminine energy, and there have been sometimes where parents are like, what is happening? Fortunately, every school visit I have gone to, the school has backed me up and supported me. Booksellers really back me up and support me. So, that is what I am just going to keep hoping for. To have that support, and like I said, keep spreading love and show kids in person that if they do not feel like they fit the boy, the girl, the heterosexual mold, even if they don’t have the words for it, but know that they are different from their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts, that they can see an adult that makes something like burst in their heart in a good way. Like, wait! This person seems more like me, and they can have real world examples of people thriving that look and feel like they do.

Why do you believe it is important for children to see the message of queer inclusivity?
It is so important for kids to see the message of inclusivity, so they realize that there is more than just one option of how their life is going to look. That there is more than you need to be with somebody who is of the opposite sex, and that’s it. I knew from a very young age that I was different. I can distinctly remember, even as young as 6, being like this does not feel right. Watching these Disney princesses, I don’t ever feel like the prince. I feel like I should be the princess, and I couldn’t find the words. 

I would not have been able to say I am queer, but I knew that something was different about me. I think it is so important to have queer inclusion in kids’ books so they start to see the different options their life can take, or the people they can connect with on a soul level and understand that what I am seeing in the mainstream all the time or told that my future must look like is not necessarily true. In all these different avenues, all these different career avenues, there is still just as much love, hope, success, and community as anywhere else.

Related article: The Trevor Project Released Survey Data on Queer Youth

Out of the millions of LGBTQ authors and books out there, how does your work stand out? What makes your books so unique?
I love that we were in a phase in sort of the early and mid-2000s where we were exploring a lot of coming out stories. I think those are so important and hold a key spot in queer literature, but I feel like I am part of this next generation of authors that are exploring what comes after you come out, getting into relationships, and more. I am queer, this is who I am. Now, let’s focus on who I am as a romantic person. When we say we are gay, that does not mean we are all exactly the same. We still have just as varied personal taste romantically as straight people. 

So, my work really explores that and the messiness of figuring out who you are and what personality types work best with you. It really focuses on, I guess, screwing up, for lack of a better phrase. That it is okay to make mistakes as you are figuring yourself out, and the key in messing up, like the bulk of my plots is the main character messing up. Not figuring out how to express their wants, but also keep in mind somebody else’s. I think that is such an authentic, real experience as a teen. You are discovering that you are basically an adult, and you like things a certain way. You are figuring out how to navigate, creating a world around you that you like, but that also incorporates other people’s like that could be very different from yours, or other people’s personality and communication styles that are very different than yours. So, my work explores figuring that out. The messiness of it, and how we own up to our mistakes once they are made and make stronger bonds after the fact.

What is the most rewarding part about your work?
Definitely getting reader reactions. When I get a review or a note from somebody saying, “I feel seen,” “I feel like I totally related to this main character,” or “this made me laugh,” it makes me feel so good. Especially, like I was saying before, in a time where it seems like every new day brings a whole new challenge. We had an attempted coup, we are in a worldwide pandemic, we need things that remind us that there is joy in the world. We need to get back to that space that shows us there are reasons why we wake up and keep going. It is to experience this joy. Hearing from readers that I can give that sometimes, it is so rewarding. 

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming project you would like to plug?
For now, that is it! I feel very lucky that in a 12-month period, I am going to have six books come out. Porcupine Cupid, which you can get now for your favorite valentine! The Mermicorn Island series will have four books, the first two come out February 2, the third in July, and the fourth in October. Then Jay’s Gay Agenda in June.

Follow Jason June on Twitter and Instagram @heyjasonjune to stay up-to-date on the latest news and projects, or visit his official website, heyjasonjune.com. Visit heyjasonjune.substack.com to subscribe to his newsletter. 

*Photos by Ryan Bilawsky