First Person Queer, an anthology of nonfiction essays written in the first person by a variety of gay and lesbian authors, was a snapshot of GLBT life and experience in the modern age. Published in 2007, it received wide acclaim and won the Lambda Literary Award for Anthologies and the Independent Publisher Award (Gold) for gay/lesbian books. Second Person Queer is an unusual companion book: it is an anthology of essays on GLBT life written in the second person. The essays take the form of letters to family and friends, missives to homophobes, confessions to lovers, and words of advice for the next generation; they deal with subjects as large and looming as violence, coming out, gay marriage, and raising children. They are as intimate and engaging as How to Become a Visible Femme, How Not to Be Offended by Everything, and How to Become a Country Leather Bear. Powerful, funny, poignant: these are the stories of who you are as a GLBT person, or the person you would most like to be.Contributors include S. Bear Bergman, Sky Gilbert, Matt Bernstein Sycamore (a.k.a. Mattilda), Achy Obejas, Andy Quan, Michael Rowe, Stacey May Fowles, and Amber Dawn. Co-editors Richard Labonté and Lawrence Schimel have written or edited over one hundred books between them; Labonté edits the annual Best Gay Erotica anthologies from Cleis Press, and Schimel’s books include PoMoSexuals and The Mammoth Book of Gay Erotica.
