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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of lgbtq+ short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ Lgbtq+ Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Discover incredible works of queer fiction right here, on this page of fresh new LGBTQ+ stories.

Lgbtq+ Short Stories – Page 5 of 10

When Men Are Planning...

Submitted to Contest #301

WHEN MEN ARE PLANNING… Blessed are the obsessed, for they see the face of their God. While the rest will always be searching for meaning, reason, truth, and proof, they don’t need any of it. Living in the now, they create their meaning and truth at their will, as they go. I’m one of those, and I was blessed with the obsession twice: first with Music, then — with Love. If the first blessing will be with me until my dying breath, the other one is eternal only in my mind. In real life, it is as whimsical and fleeting as a mirage in a desert. A...

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Messy Magic on the Rooftop

Submitted to Contest #301

Messy Magic on the Rooftop When meticulous planner Jules throws a rooftop birthday bash to mend her best friend Sam’s broken heart, an unexpected downpour, a mischievous magic charm, and a parade of see-through white party clothes unravel every plan—but also reveal truths about love, friendship, and the courage to come out of hiding.Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston, Emily Henry, and Becky Albertalli, this sparkling queer romantic comedy proves that the best kind of magic is the mess we make together. Jules didn’t believe in luck; she beli...

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Tales of a Baby Gay Part 1

Submitted to Contest #301

Sensitive Content Disclaimer: This story contains references to mental health issues, as well as mature content and light cursing.I couldn’t be sure what had caught my attention in Sonja’s online dating profile. Sonja had posted two photos instead of the recommended six, which was already suspicious. One was a blurry selfie taken at a subway station in Manhattan, Sonja’s red basketball shorts and gold cross necklace looking garish in the dim light; the other was a full-body bikini shot taken at a foreign beach, maybe Brazil or the Philippine...

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Grand River

Submitted to Contest #301

Grand River1985 Kevin Woodward thought his life was over at sixteen, uprooting himself from the only life he knew in Atlanta. His brother had outed him to his mother, and she freaked out, then sent him to live with his dad. Kevin didn’t know his father well and hadn’t seen him since he was twelve. He was now 800 miles away from anyone he knew, on a farm in rural western Michigan that mainly grew corn. There was no time for his inexperienced father, Charles, to register him for school. Kevin wasn’t even sure his father knew how to parent at...

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Mystery Host

Submitted to Contest #300

There it is! The cabin I saw from afar while I was hiking over a hill earlier. Good thing I, like a good wildlife biologist, marked it on my map as a potential shelter. One can’t predict bad luck, like the sudden storm that flooded my camp, but when you plan to work in a place as luck depended as the wilderness, you must try. Getting closer I notice that despite the downpour, the cabin looks pristine and modern unlike the moldy, abandoned place I was expecting. The logs it’s made from are synthetic, the porch covered in blooming flowers and ...

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The Stranger From the Snow

Submitted to Contest #300

Blood dripped into moonlit snow as I trudged towards either life or death. The healer inside the cottage was my only hope. But as I wrapped my cloak tighter around my body, knowing what I had just done, I feared she would turn me away. Or worse. Murder wasn’t typically in a healer’s wheelhouse, but I knew what she thought of me. Or at least what I imagined she thought of me. Or maybe just what my terrible, self-hating inner monologue assumed she thought about me. Maybe I deserved death.Or maybe, just maybe, she would spare the dying.Though I...

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Ghostly Encounters of the Angry Poltergeist

Submitted to Contest #300

I, Aamon—Arch-Demon of Wrath and Grand Marquis of Hell—am quite easily frightened by the disembodied spirits of the dead. While it’s an embarrassing weakness to have in Hell, here on Earth, I can fortunately play it off as having a socially acceptable, perhaps even a healthy amount of superstition.Having been banished to Earth toward the end of my losing battle against the Heavens, I have taken on the appearance of a mundane human in order to fulfill a contractual obligation to my new human companion, Alex. And although he is concerningly su...

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L’Chaim

Submitted to Contest #300

Note from the author: This story contains mature content. The night before her flight to Sydney, Leah visits Coney Island Beach for the last time. Luna Park is still open for one more week of its summer season, but the beach is surprisingly empty. The moon is obscured by periwinkle clouds and the air feels thick, pregnant with an impending storm. Leah can hear the electrical hum of summer insects between the rhythm of shrieks from the Cyclone and Thunderbolt. She removes her socks and shoes, and the sand is cold beneath her feet. It’s hard ...

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Everybody Hates Clowns

Submitted to Contest #299

Claude shook a packet of sugar into the paper cup and swirled the wooden stick that always reminded him of a tiny tongue depressor. A large hairy hand thrust into his periphery. He looked up to find the corresponding face. A man with tousled dark hair, bushy mustache, and full beard grinned at him. “Brad, rodeo clown.” Claude looked down at the palm still waiting to be acknowledged and resisted the urge to use a hand buzzer as a gag. No, this was not the place. Instead, he grabbed the furry appendage. “Claude, circus clown.” “Nice to meet...

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The tea told me to

Submitted to Contest #299

“I need it to be red,” Clara’s least favourite client booms from the speakers.“I understand,” Clara starts to answer, “but I don’t think it will do your brand any justice. Maybe instead we could—”“What Clara means to say,” her boss interrupts, “is we’ll take care of it.”“I certainly hope so,” and then the call cuts off. Clara lets out a loud groan. Her developer job has lost all its fun these past few months; she needs a break. Clara gets up and walks to the kitchen to treat herself to a cup of tea. The hot, steamy air coming from the cup al...

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Gostly Encounters of the Fourth Kind

Submitted to Contest #299

Content warning: graphic sexual depictions, but it's for comedic purposes rather than erotic. I, an arch-demon, fear the spirits of the dead like an elephant fears a mouse. My human companion, though concerningly easy to possess, can’t see ghosts and fears nothing.I accepted his contract because he was lonely and naive and only asked for a friend. It was an easy job, and I desperately needed work to replenish my reservoir of souls after being thrown through a wormhole to Earth during a losing battle in Hell’s war with Heaven. I never thought...

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~ Dead Things, Part 1 ~

Submitted to Contest #299

~ DEAD THINGS ~ ~ Part One ~“How lucky can a girl get?” Doreen Svoboda asked herself out loud. She continued on, driving her corvette over crunching gravel and through the open gates of Witch Hazel Acres. What was once a working dairy farm was now her sprawling estate. Cattle still roamed the outer grounds as she leased most of her land to the Blue-Eyed Mary Cattle Ranch next door. Next door in this context meaning six miles down the road. The 110 year old, 2 story farm house was completely renovated and updated with not only modern convenie...

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Wrapped In Lace And Red In The Face

Submitted to Contest #298

Every time Erik moved his head, he felt his body freeze as the earrings hit the side of his face. A reminder that they were the focal point. He looked around at the other dangling earrings at the party. Their glare against the lights proved him the outcast. He did not feel the power that they were giving off. These were his first 'loud earrings,' as his mother would say. He was no stranger to studs, but this was a new look. They had a white, pearl exterior surrounding a lace center. His suit sported white lace on the cuffs and fringe, so he ...

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The Garden

Submitted to Contest #298

It was the summer I graduated college, the kind of summer that feels like it belongs only to you. It took me six years but the degree and the summer was all mine to do whatever I wanted with it. The days stretched long and slow, glimmering with heat and possibility. I was still shaking off the remnants of a dead-end relationship that had exhausted itself, full of apologizes and unfulfilled promises. I had stayed longer than I should have, holding on out of comfort and fear, rather than accepting the inevitable. But that summer, I felt like I...

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Truth is a Hard Pill to Swallow

Submitted to Contest #298

It’s never easy to admit that you’ve been lied to, that your life was built on faulty foundations. It’s easier to keep pretending that the ground beneath your feet is solid and keep going as you always have. Because the alternative is to unmoor yourself from the safe, if fake, world you know, and to become a raft drifting along the ocean with no compass and no company. In short, it was the scariest thing Marcus had ever done. It had taken a long time to gather the courage to leave. For most of his life, he’d done as he was told, believed wh...

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