<p>Tamara Jereé found their community in a sapphic book club on the South Side.</p><p>The Hyde Park-based fantasy-romance author struggled to find acceptance growing up in Alabama.<br>But they moved to Chicago in 2023, and got to know the city's queer lit community and its authors for the first time. Their first short story collection, "A Vision of Moonlight," debuted the same year.</p><p>It wasn't until Jereé began writing their latest novel, "The Flowers I Deserve," that they accepted themselves as non-binary, even as an adult steeped in queer community. </p><p>There's a need for more trans representation in literature, they said, so like other local LGBTQ+ creatives, they're trying to create space for their community in their writing.</p><p>As Chicago has become a haven for transgender people being targeted by legislation in the U.S., writing remains an escape for queer people in the city.</p><p>“There was no representation, or a space to explore and be myself [at home],” they<b> </b>said.