Probably my favorite part about Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid is that Joan never once feels shame or like she's broken for being a lesbian. Joan spent her whole life thinking that love just wasn't for her, and she was FINE with that; it was a non-issue. But once she realizes she is a lesbian (even if the word is never used), she's ecstatic. She is scared because she knows society and NASA won't accept and embrace her, but that's their problem; they're in the wrong for that, it has nothing to do with her.
The book does have period typical homophobia, it is the 80s after all. But there is no guilt, no shame, and no apologizing for being queer. We do still get the mourning of a life that the world won't let you have, the longing for the casual affection afforded to everyone else; however, this lack is framed as a great injustice the world has done to us, one that has absolutely nothing to do with us, and everything to do with them.
