Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens - Softcover

Kathy Belge has been a freelance writer since 2003 specializing in the LGBT community. She co-authored the book Lipstick and Dipstick's Essential Guide to Lesbian Relationships and wrote the monthly advice column Lipstick & Dipstick for Curve magazine for 11 years. She's worked extensively with queer youth and was the director of the Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center, Oregon's largest program for LGBT teens. Kathy lives in Portland, Oregon.

Marke Bieschke has worked as an editor at Gay.com, PlanetOut.com, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

"Wow! If I could travel back in time a few decades, how I would have devoured this book (after covering it in plain brown paper)! But forget that, reading this new edition today I learned more than a few things about our fabulously diverse queer culture, and especially the younger generation, that everyone should know. As an older gay white man often struggling to navigate through a rapidly changing world, Queer, 2nd Edition: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens boils it all down into plain English in a way anyone can understand. We will be selling it at the GLBT Historical Society Museum's bookstore, where I am sure it will be popular with travelers from around the world."―Terry Beswick, Executive Director of the GLBT Historical Society Archives and Museum

"Like a queer 101 manual for LGBTQ+ teens, Kathy Belge and Marke Bieschke's Queer is a delightful collection of trustworthy and accurate information that tweens and teens need today, all told in a sort of quirky, sometimes goofy, and always approachable tone. This second edition combines some "it gets better" basics (coming out, dating, finding your people) as well as the good stuff authors are often forced to leave out of books aimed at teens (in this case, sex, STIs, how to tell if your relationship is abusive). The end result is a fun, easy to read, and occasionally hilarious guide that should be available on a shelf in every high school library in the U.S. (and, with the current age of coming out, many middle schools as well)."
―Diane Anderson-Minshall, Editorial Director, The Advocate magazine

"This second edition offers a solid foundation of knowledge for LGBTQ teens and those who want to better understand what it means to be queer. Topics include self-acceptance, coming out, dating, and sex. The information is general enough to fit a broad range of issues into just over 200 pages, but readers will still find many of their questions answered. The extensive resources will help them fill in additional information needs. Readers will learn about stereotypes, homophobia, and how to find a community of peers to provide a safe space. Hate and homophobia are handled with more nuance than in similar texts. The book examines what leads to hate and how teens can address it. Included in the text are a relationship quiz to identify any unhealthy behaviors and a table of sexually transmitted infections with symptoms and treatments. Belge and Bieschke use their respective experiences to illustrate the situations these teens may find themselves in. VERDICT This updated title gives teens the information needed to navigate their world, but, more important, it also helps them understand and accept themselves."―School Library Journal

"Not every queer kid has easy access to a family member, teacher, counselor, or friend who can help them through the coming out process. Even when they do, NEWSFLASH, most of us don't have all the answers! Queer pairs coming out and first date anecdotes with tidbits of important LGBTQ history and is a great way for a teen, or someone who is trying to mentor or understand a queer teen, to gain some knowledge from a thoughtful, cute, and kitsch perspective."―Honey Mahogany, Activist, RuPaul's Drag Race Alumni, Co-Founder of the Compton's Transgender Cultural District and Co-Owner of the Stud Bar in San Francisco

"The world of queer youth has changed dramatically in the 11 years since the first edition of this useful, commonsense guide was published, and the coauthors have done an excellent job of updating the book's contents accordingly. They cover the full spectrum of LGBTQ experience from coming out, 'finding your people,' and queer sex to queer relationships and dating. In addition to near-encyclopedic coverage of the subject, the book is rich in sidebar features, many about queer history and others about the coauthors' personal experiences. The text is readily accessible and lively, even chatty and frank when necessary, especially in its coverage of queer sex and its pleasures and dangers. The book's contemporaneity is evidenced by its coverage of sex and technology and its extensive treatment of transgender issues. Comic spot art throughout enlivens a sometimes-sober text. A must-read for curious queer teens, the book is also of potential interest to adults interested in the subjects addressed. A useful list of resources is appended. A valuable addition to a surprisingly spare literature."―Booklist