Basically Queer offers an introduction to what it can look and feel like to live life as lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual, two spirited and trans. Written by youth and elders who’ve lived these lives first hand, the book combines no-nonsense explanations, definitions, and information with engaging stories and poetry that bring them to life. Basically Queer answers those questions that many want to ask but fear will give offence: What is it really like to be queer? What’s appropriate language? How can I be an ally? It also provides a succinct and readable account of queer history and legal rights worldwide, addresses intergenerational issues, and offers some tips and tricks for living queer. It does so in an easy and conversational style that will be accessible to most readers, including teens. The text will be of interest to those teaching courses in gender, sexuality, queer and women’s studies. It will be a useful resource for those who are questioning or examining their sexual or gender identities and those who are in relationship with them, such as doctors, teachers, parents, or friends.

Table of Contents:
Preface – Acknowledgements – Introduction – Section One: Why Does Language Matter? – Judy Fletcher/Bill Morrow: Verbal Attacks – Pat Hogan/Gayle Roberts/Farren Gillaspie: Why Does Language Matter? – Basic Queer Vocabulary – Things We Get Called – Anna R. Westhaver: Beware – Pat Hogan: A Jab Rap for All Who Don’t Fit In – Harris Taylor: One for the Team – Skylar Cogswell-Shears: Was There Ever a Moment of Decision for You About Your Orientation/Gender I.D.? – Skylar Cogswell-Shears: I Am He – Cyndia Cole: Firm – Jasmine Broeder: I Am a Fucking Bisexual – Pat Hogan: "Still a Lesbian After All These Years – Nancy Strider: Plain Brown Wrapper – Section Two: Queer History – Cyndia Cole/Val Innes/Ellen Woodsworth: Introduction to the History of the Queer Movement – Christine Waymark: Stonewalled – Bill Morrow/Judy Fletcher: Homophobic Homo– Greta Hurst: Love in Montreal – Ellen Woodsworth: Standing Out and Standing Up as Lesbian Feminists – Pat Hogan: Before I Knew the Word – Section Three: What’s It Like to Be Queer? – Claire Robson: What’s It Like to Be Queer? – Candy Fine: Misunderstood – Syd Oremek: Young, Homeless, and Positive – Judy Fletcher: My Walk in the Sunshine – Nancy Strider: Last Dance – Chris Morrissey: Life Insurance – Skylar Cogswell-Shears: In-Between – Caroline Doerksen: You Would Be Pretty If … – Judy Fletcher: How Am I Different? Let Me Count the Ways – Cyndia Cole: Lost and Found – Caroline Doerksen: First Queer Event – Val Innes: First Time’s Special – Harris Taylor: Mercy – Section Four: Queers in Family – Val Innes: Queers in Family – Skylar Cogswell-Shears: You Aren’t a Boy – Harris Taylor: For Sale: Used Family – Bridget Coll: Adopted Grammas – Chris Morrissey: The Last Goodbye – Robin Rennie: The Drop-In – Val Innes: Androgyny Is My Sanity – Chris Morrissey: Class Ring – Judy Fletcher: All Girls Can Have Curls – Marsha Ablowitz: Max Dexall – Farren Gillaspie: Faith – Christine Waymark: Not the Piece I Was Meant to Write – GG: The Way Forward—Notes for a Screenplay – Paddy St. Loe: Our Pam’s Gone Funny – Cyndia Cole: Fighting for Life – Section Five: Equal Rights or More Rights? – Chris Morrissey/Christine Waymark: Equal Rights or More Rights? – Syd Oremek: The Queer Agenda – Harris Taylor: Gay Blue Jeans Day – Christine Waymark: Veiled – What the Youth Had to Say About Rights – Chris Morrissey: Who Says We Have All Our Rights? – Paula Stromberg: It’s Not My 77th Birthday. We Got Married – Cyndia Cole: Just and Mighty – Farren Gillaspie: Love It, Leave It, or Change It – Cyndia Cole: Taking LGBTQA2S+ Rights to the World Stage: An Interview With Ellen Woodsworth – Section Six: What Does It Mean to Be an Ally? – Val Innes: What Does It Mean to Be an Ally? – The Importance of Allies: From a Youth Perspective – Cyndia Cole: An Ally in Queer Space – Reba Broadhurst: Boy Do People Ever Piss Me Off – Gayle Roberts: Dear Parent of a Gender-Variant Child – Judy Fletcher: Ham Sandwiches for No One – Farren Gillaspie: Cousin Maurice – Marsha Ablowitz: Jean, the Boy-Girl 1976 – Val Innes: A Letter to School Teachers – Val Innes: Gay Pride in San Francisco – Section Seven: Born or Made – Gwyneth Bowen/Nancy Strider: "If It Ain’t Broke …" – Gayle Roberts: The Girl in the Pond – Aleisha Ross: Do I Have the Right to Write? – Farren Gillaspie: An Inner Yearning Yet to Be Named – Skylar Cogswell-Shears: Gender Is a Spectrum - Gayle Roberts: John Doe Android Instruction Manual – Candy Fine: As the Spotlight Shimmers – Section Eight: Youth and Elders – Marsha Ablowitz/Farren Gillaspie: About Youth and Elders – Jake Marchbank: What We Queer Youth Have Got from Working with Our Queer Elders – Shawnee Gaffney: Queer and in Care – Val Innes: In the Shadows of the Moment – Chris Morrissey: Widowhood –Candy Fine: Youth - Stephen Hardy: My New Moccasins – Gwyneth Bowen: Psalm 69 (and All the Other Numbers) – Cyndia Cole: Backflips – Maggie Shore: Shards and Scree – Section Nine: Tips and Tricks for Living Queer – Farren Gillaspie: Start With a Smile – Stephen Hardy: Keep Healthy – Nancy Strider: Tips and Tricks for Asexuals (and Others Travelling Alone) – Anna R. Westhaver: A Practical Guide to Lesbian Identification in the 21st Century – Queer 101: What Everyone Needs to Know, From the Youth – Queer 101: What Everyone Needs to Know, From the Elders – Final Thoughts – About the Authors – Recommended Reading – Index.