Search form

Scroll To Top
Ariel-schrag-cr
2014

Readers' Choice Award Nomination: Ariel Schrag

The comic artist and writer crafted a fascinating portrait of into lesbian & trans New York City with her novel, Adam

Ariel Schrag has created graphic memoirs for years that tell queer stories--such as Awkward, Definition, Potential, and Likewise--and she was also a writer for seasons 3 and 4 of Showtime's The L Word. This summer, the Brooklyn-based writer and artist published her first novel, titled Adam, which surprised many of her fans. Not only did focus on a privileged, cisgender white boy, it also offered a searing critique of "oppression Olympics" among those same privileged queer groups.

"I found the idea that somebody would have a feeling of power and superiority because of a marginalized status really interesting," she told The Advocate. "I did that all the time when I was in my early twenties -- I would just spout off some rhetoric verbatim that someone else had told me and then act really self-righteous about it. A lot of the book is me making fun of myself."

Schrag, who identifies as a cisgender, lesbian woman, also explained that she was interested in what happens when "the most privileged person intersects with a group of marginalized people," referring to Adam as "this privileged, white, straight, cisgender boy." The book, which received many accolades, opened up the lesbian and trans world of New York City to many cisgender readers, while also concluding with a poignant tribute to queer 21st-century quandaries.

VOTE for 2014 Out100 Readers' Choice Award Winner. Presented by Buick.

Out.com Editors

See All 2024's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
Artists
Disruptors
Educators
Groundbreakers
Innovators
Storytellers
Quinto-suit-cr
None

Out.com Editors

2014

OUT100 2014 Honorees Speak Out about HIV

Watch Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Elvis Duran, Tyler Oakley, and others discuss why it's important to 'make some noise'

See All 2024's Most Impactful and Influential LGBTQ+ People
Artists
Disruptors
Educators
Groundbreakers
Innovators
Storytellers