OMG I'm Queer
OMG I’m Queer is a street magazine and resource produced by . It is designed for same sex attracted and gender diverse young people living in the City of Melbourne.
Created by and for young people, OMG I’m Queer takes on sexuality and gender identity, using real life experiences. It includes contributions from comedian Tom Ballard, youth mental health foundation Headspace and trans youth group Ygender.
At first glance, Minus 18’s resource looks like any other of the coming out help texts available mostly over the net. However, the parts of it that are devoted to coming out stand head and shoulders above the standard “I’m a gay guy and I came out and life was peachy” that seems to be all over the net these days.
It features stories from many different walks of life, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, gender queer and transsexual. But looking at it as only a coming out resource means discounting a huge part of the book.
The book also has segments on almost everything an LGBTI teen could want. Covering topics such as sexuality and gender, safe partying, and online safety, it gives a much more focused view of what young LGBTIs need to know about, as well the queer community in general.
The parts that make it stand out are the “country kids”, “telling dad” and “believing what you want” segments. The “country kids” segment is an interview with three kids from rural areas, “telling dad” is an interview with a youth and his father, and “believe what you want” deals with the issue of religion and sexuality.
These parts make it superior to most available resources.
However, while it is an amazing resource, its not perfect. At times, it seems too brief, and while the coming out section is varied, the rest of the book does seem to be a bit too centred on gay males.
All in all though, it is an amazing resource, which is available both online and in print from Minus 18.