Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens – Best Resource for Gay & Lesbian Teenagers

I’m well past my teenage years and, if you’ve been paying attention, you know that I didn’t figure it all out until a handful of years ago when I was well into my 30s. That said, I am the mother of a teenager, an aunt to several and the neighbor to several more. As a result, I’m associated with many, many teens. Lots of them!

Most of the teens I know are straight, a couple are admittedly not, at least one is questioning whether they might be queer, and in at least one other case – and quite possibly two – I’m pretty sure which way the wind is blowing but the teenager is not overtly questioning yet. Being a teenager is hard enough right now without the added burden of wondering whether you may be “different” from your peers in regard to your sexuality and then wondering how you handle it or what, if anything, you should do about it.

Excellent help for teens in all of the above groups is available in the form of a great book written by Kathy Belge and Mark Bieschke titled, Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens. Their book is a must read for any teenager who is questioning his or her sexual orientation or who has determined they are gay or lesbian and who wonders how to come out to family and friends, how to find other queers, how to date and more.

Kathy Belge is better known to the LGBT community and to lesbians especially as “Dipstick” of the Lipstick and Dipstick tandem known for their advice column featured prominently in Curve Magazine and online. Mark Bieschke previously worked for Gay.com and PlanetOut before taking a position as the Senior Editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Both, draw heavily from their personal experiences discovering their queerness as teenagers, admitting it to themselves, coming out to family and friends and so on for this book. Their writing is both informative and very entertaining. Best of all, even though it’s written by two adults, it’s written from the perspective of people who’ve been there themselves and who now continue to counsel and assist young LGBT community members to find their way.

This book is fully indexed. It also includes a list of recommended resources including many of the traditional LGBT support organizations and also religious groups for gay and lesbian teens. Finally, there is a listing of several other published works focused on teens.

I loved Queer: The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens. It’s a wonderful resource and I highly recommend it as necessary reading for any questioning teenager and any teenager who has figured out who they are but who is scared or who has no idea where to go from there.