Books to read after watching Tip Toe’s devasting finale

Russell T Davies’ latest project, Tip Toe aired on Channel 4 this month, and has quickly become a talking point. The British miniseries, starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey is a harrowing and terrifyingly relevant piece that explores bigotry, radicalisation, misinformation, toxic masculinity, and the violence at the heart of culture wars. If like many viewers, Tip Toe’s devastating ending has left you asking ‘Well what now?’ then this collection of books that explore similar themes including prejudice, transphobia, homophobia, and HIV might help answer that question.

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The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye

Faye delves into the issues and bigotry faced by the trans community, exploring the intersections of prejudice with other minorities (working class, people of colour, disabled people etc), and concluding that these issues actually impact us all.

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

This Sunday Times Bestseller is an emotional and raw story of dangerous first love between two young men. Centring working class backgrounds, Mungo has to navigate a toxic, hyper-masculine world, much like the one depicted by Tip Toe’s Clive, as he tries to exist as his authentically gay self.

Outrage: How to Fight for LGBTQ+ Lives by Ellen Jones

Written by activist Ellen Jones, this work exposes the discrimination queer people continue to face in all areas of life in the UK, highlighting some of the many trailblazers whose work is already changing the world and lives. What’s more, it also offers actionable steps and practical actions that any reader can take to help create a more equal society.

Outrageous: The Story of Section 28 and Britain’s Battle for LGBT Education by Paul Baker

One of Tip Toe’s most shared speeches, delivered by Melba, serves as an uncomfortable reminder that the growing bigotry and attacks on LGBTQ+ people now are just a repeating of a horrific history. That history included section 28, which prohibited local authorities and schools from “promoting homosexuality” or teaching the acceptability of same-sex relationships. Baker’s writing explores the legislation, as well as the campaigning and activism that fought against it.

Leo: Do you ever think it’s coming back? All that shit from the 90s? We were despised. But you read the stuff online now, it sounds just the same.
Melba: Do I think it’s coming back?
Leo: Yeah.
Melba: It’s back, you fucking idiot. Right now, it’s here….

lf you’d asked me in 1996, what do you think 2026 will be like, I’d have said ‘glory days’… But they tricked us, didn’t they? They just waited. Oh they let us all come out. So, now we’re standing in the open, ready for them to shoot us down… Look at me, l’m as out and as proud as anything. But past couple of years, l’m a lot more careful… l used to walk into a room and just go Ta-da! Now, I tip toe, just in case. 
– Tip Toe, Channel 4

Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and Chaos by Jake Hall

Another book that explores the long fight for LGBTQ+ rights, Hall’s writing also offers some hope in the form of solidarity. From the Black Panthers coalition with the Gay Liberation Front in the US to Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners, this book is a reminder of our strength in unity. This spirit was even put in motion again recently when unions in the historic mining area of Durham came together to raise funds and ensure that the city’s Pride could go ahead, despite funding cuts from the Reform UK-led council.

How to Survive a Plague by David France

Among the many themes explored by Tip Toe is HIV. Alan Cumming’s character, Leo is HIV positive and speaks in the face of Clive’s prejudice about how far medicine has come since the HIV pandemic first hit. Leo reminds viewers that HIV positive people of effective medication could live perfectly healthy lives. France’s book is a history of HIV/AIDS, the movement of activists, and the scientific research that has led us to this point.

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks

Toxic masculinity is a central theme to Tip Toe, this writing from feminist pioneer bell hooks, is an investigation of the patriarchy and how toxic masculinity hurts all of us.

We Could be Heroes by P.J. Ellis

While this novel is a romantic comedy at its heart, Ellis doesn’t shy away from highlighting homophobia, transphobia, and violence against the community that continues in the today’s society.

‘Fairy!’ At Faye’s interjection, the crowd fell silent again. ‘Imagine thinking that calling somebody a “fairy” was an insult,’ she said. ‘Fairies used to be feared and revered. People would make offerings to them to appease their moods, and heaven forbid if you were to meet one at a crossroads. The word “homophobia” supposedly means they’re afraid of us, but I think they’ve forgotten who they’re dealing with. They’re trying to push us back into the margins, throwing grains of rice on the ground so the fae will be distracted and forget what we’re owed. Talking about us like we’re not real, so we waste our precious time on this earth arguing for our own existence, proving how good and meek and mild we can be. – We Could Be Heroes, P.J.Ellis