Science-fiction, fantasy and similar literary genres are great support for queer stories but are usually underexploited.
I'd like to talk about two books I consider as good examples of what is possible to explore with this genres and why.

 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

 

"The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet," written by Becky Chambers in 2014, is the author's first book. It's a space opera novel.

But first, here's a quick synopsis:

 

Rosemary Harper, a young human, flees her old life and gets a job on the Wayfarer, a spaceship
where people of different species work. It follows the diverse crew of the spaceship as they
journey through space, facing challenges and forming bonds. Themes of friendship, acceptance,
and family are explored as they navigate the complexities of their mission and confront their own
pasts.

 

I know this book is really popular, but I only read it in March, and I fell in love with Chambers' universe. It's not only a good book but also a good queer book in many ways and the first reason is because the author doesn't only created queer characters but challenge ours conceptions about love, family, sexuality, gender and sex.
Queerness manifests in diverse and varied ways, always creative. The book tells the story of several such characters. It includes an interspecies lesbian couple, considered perfectly normal and not shocking to anyone. There's also a character assigned female at birth but who, througha natural biological process in their species, is now male. Moreover, not all species encountered in the stories have, like humans, a feminine and a masculine gender; interesting variations can
be found. Chambers describes extremely different species and they all have really different cultures and biologies. Some doesn't 

raises their biological children and have multiple lovers at the same time, some change their sex during their life etc

Because multiple species have to co-exist not only in the spaceship but in the universe, they have to be tolerant and not projecting their beliefs on the others.

Because the main character is human we share a cis,heteronormative, monogamous culture with her, we are challenged the same way when we discover the reality of other species.

We can also read a love story between an AI and a human. Their relation is considered as very disturbing for us and also for the characters.
In fact their love is percived in the book the same way homosexuality was in our society a few decades ago and is really interesting.

Love isn't the only subject of this book and those that follow; friendship is also very important. The team aboard the spaceship manages to create bonds of trust and selflessness, ultimately forming a chosen family. Planetary origin, appearance, and way of thinking have no
importance, less so than the bond the characters create among themselves. 
The diversity created thanks to sci-fi permits it is combined with the "found family" trope. Queer people often relate to this trope because of the reject of the biological family and the necessity to create alternative families. 

 

Out of the Blue

 

"Out of the Blue" written by Jason June is a fantastic young adult novel published in 2022.

 

A queer teen named Riley who experiences unexpected romance and self-discovery when he meet a merperson – a neutral way to say mermaid. Their bond challenges societal norms and helps Riley navigate love, friendship, and personal identity in a heartwarming and uplifting story.

 

Crest, the merperson, comes from a society under the water where gender is a nonsense. So,they only use the pronoun « they ». In a human world, they are non-binary. In his world, they are just a person, like everyone else.

So the book also challenge our conception of gender, sex and love with a different species but in a different literary genre.

Riley and Crest's story is both sweet and highly complex, filled with love at first sight and difficult choices. I appreciate this complexity that makes things feel very real.