Richard Labonté (1949 – March 20, 2022) was a Canadian writer and editor, best known as the editor or co-editor of numerous anthologies of LGBT literature. Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Labonté studied English and political science at Carleton University in Ottawa, where he was an editor for The Charlatan. Following school he joined the Ottawa Citizen in 1972 as an editor, later writing film and book reviews, and was a contributor to The Body Politic. In 1980, he contributed to an Ottawa Citizen series on gay life in Ottawa, becoming one of the first Canadian journalists ever to come out in the pages of a mainstream newspaper.