The collection is at its strongest when its contributors step away from mere reportage and become more playful in how they tell their stories, when the form of a personal essay itself is queered and subverted. Jarel Robinson-Brown’s epistolary contribution, Dustin Lance Black’s vivid description that feels like a monologue from a play, Keith Jarrett’s excellent use of form in 50 Observations on Avoidance all stand out, as does a stunning phrase from Phyll Opoku-Gyimah: “I stepped out of the walls of the church and into the expansive ministry of my queer black body.” This is a book that should be in every school, and probably handed out in every place of worship, too.
