First awarded in 1971 as the Gay Book Award, over the years the name of the award has changed:
| Year |
Recipient |
Title |
| 1971 |
Isabel Miller |
Patience and Sarah |
| 1972 |
Peter Fisher |
The Gay Mystique: The Myth and Reality of Male Homosexuality |
| 1972 |
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon |
Lesbian/Woman |
| 1973 |
no award given |
no award given |
| 1974 |
Jeannette Howard Foster |
Sex Variant Women in Literature: A Historical and Quantitative Survey |
| 1975 |
Jonathan D. Katz, ed. |
Homosexuality: Lesbians and Gay Men in Society, History, and Literature |
| 1976 |
no award given |
no award given |
| 1977 |
Howard Brown |
Familiar Faces, Hidden Lives: The Story of Homosexual Men in America Today |
| 1978 |
Ginny Vida, ed. |
Our Right to Love: A Lesbian Resource Book |
| 1979 |
Betty Fairchild and Nancy Hayward |
That You Know: What Every Parent Should Know About Homosexuality |
| 1980 |
Winston Leyland, ed. |
Now the Volcano: An Anthology of Latin American Gay Literature |
| 1981 |
John Boswell |
Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality: Gay People in Western Europe from the Beginning of the Christian Era to the Fourteenth Century |
| 1982 |
Lillian Faderman |
Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present |
| 1982 |
J.R. Roberts |
Black Lesbians: An Annotated Bibliography |
| 1982 |
Vito Russo |
The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies |
| 1983 |
no award given |
no award given |
| 1984 |
John D'Emilio |
Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: The Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States, 1940-1970 |
| 1985 |
Judy Grahn |
Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds |
| 1986 |
Cindy Patton |
Sex and Germs: The Politics of AIDS |
| 1987 |
Walter Williams |
The Spirit and the Flesh: Sexual Diversity in American Indian Culture |
| 1988 |
Joan Nestle |
A Restricted Country |
| 1988 |
Randy Shilts |
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic |
| 1989 |
Alan Hollinghurst |
The Swimming Pool Library |
| 1989 |
Sarah Schulman |
After Delores |
| 1990 Non-fiction |
Neil Miller |
In Search of Gay America: Women and Men in a Time of Change |
| 1990 Literature |
David B. Feinberg |
Eighty-Sixed |
| 1991 Non-fiction |
Wayne Dynes, ed. |
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality ((William Armstrong Percy) |
| 1991 Literature |
Minnie Bruce Pratt |
Crime against Nature |
| 1992 Non-fiction |
Lillian Faderman |
Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth Century America |
| 1992 Literature |
Paul Monette |
Halfway Home |
| 1993 Non-fiction |
Eric Marcus |
Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990 |
| 1993 Literature |
Essex Hemphill |
Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry |
| 1994 Non-fiction |
Phyllis Burke |
Family Values: Two Moms and Their Son |
| 1994 Literature |
Leslie Feinberg |
Stone Butch Blues |
| 1995 Non-fiction |
Dorothy Allison |
Skin: Talking About Sex, Class & Literature |
| 1995 Non-fiction |
Philip Sherman and Samuel Bernstein |
Uncommon Heroes: A Celebration of Heroes and Role Models for Gay and Lesbian Americans |
| 1995 Literature |
Marion Dane Bauer |
Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence |
| 1996 Non-fiction |
Urvashi Vaid |
Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation |
| 1996 Literature |
Jim Grimsley |
Dream Boy |
| 1997 Non-fiction |
Fenton Johnson |
Geography of the Heart: A Memoir |
| 1997 Literature |
Emma Donoghue |
Hood |
| 1998 Non-fiction |
Adam Mastoon |
The Shared Heart: Portraits and Stories Celebrating Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Young People |
| 1998 Literature |
Lucy Jane Bledsoe |
Working Parts: A Novel |
| 1999 Non-fiction |
Sarah Schulman |
Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America |
| 1999 Literature |
Michael Cunningham |
The Hours |
| 2000 Non-fiction |
Barrie Jean Borich |
My Lesbian Husband: Landscape of a Marriage |
| 2000 Literature |
Marci Blackman |
Po Man's Child: A Novel |
| 2001 Non-fiction |
William N. Eskridge |
Gaylaw: Challenging the Apartheid of the Closet |
| 2001 Literature |
Sarah Waters |
Affinity |
| 2002 Non-fiction |
Barry Werth |
The Scarlet Professor: Newton Arvin, a Literary Life Shattered by Scandal |
| 2002 Literature |
Moisés Kaufman and Tectonic Theatre Project |
The Laramie Project |
| 2003 Non-fiction |
Joanne Meyerowitz |
How Sex Changed: a History of Transsexuality in the United States |
| 2003 Literature |
Noel Alumit |
Letters to Montgomery Clift : a Novel |
| 2004 Non-fiction |
John D'Emilio |
Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin |
| 2004 Literature |
Monique Truong |
The Book of Salt |
| 2005 Non-fiction |
Joan Roughgarden |
Evolution's Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and in People |
| 2005 Literature |
Colm Tóibín |
The Master |
| 2006 Non-fiction |
Joshua Gamson |
The Fabulous Sylvester: the Legend, the Music, the 70s in San Francisco |
| 2006 Literature |
Abha Dawesar |
Babyji |
| 2007 Non-fiction |
Alison Bechdel |
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic |
| 2007 Literature |
Andrew Holleran |
Grief: a Novel |
| 2008 Non-Fiction |
Mark Doty |
Dog Years: A Memoir |
| 2008 Literature |
Ellis Avery |
The Teahouse Fire |
| 2009 Non-Fiction |
William N. Eskridge |
Dishonorable Passions: Sodomy Laws in America, 1861-2003 |
| 2009 Literature |
Evan Fallenberg |
Light Fell |
United States
