It is with a heavy heart I share the news that Adrienne Rich passed away yesterday at her home in Santa Cruz, CA at the age of 82 from complications of rheumatoid arthritis.

Adrienne Rich changed the way we understand queer existence and feminism. Rich’s essay, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, gave us the language to talk about love like we never were able to before. Specifically, she unearthed the taken for granted social burden that is normative heterosexuality–what later was termed heteronormativity. For those of you that have read my book know, I am not afraid of using this word! If I were to give you a list of the 5 most influential authors that impacted who I am, how I ...