Queer Corner

Month 3's mini-lesson on all things queer! This month begins delving into each of the subareas of the community!

For the next few months, we will be picking apart the acronym LGBTQIA+ and exploring each letter individually. This month, we begin with the first two categories: Lesbian and Gay.

Vocabulary!

Orientation: Orientation is one’s attraction or non-attraction to other people.  An individual’s orientation can be fluid and people use a variety of labels to describe their orientation.  Some, but not all, types of attraction or orientation include: romantic, sexual, sensual, aesthetic, intellectual and platonic.

Lesbian: A woman whose primary sexual and affectional orientation is toward people of the same gender.

Gay:  A sexual and affectional orientation toward people of the same gender.

Butch: A gender expression that fits societal definitions of masculinity. Usually used by queer women and trans people, particularly by lesbians. Some consider “butch” to be its own gender identity.

Femme: Historically used in the lesbian community, it is being increasingly used by other LGBTQIA people to describe gender expressions that reclaim/claim and/or disrupt traditional constructs of femininity.

Bear Community: a part of the queer community composed of queer men similar in looks and interests, most of them big, hairy, friendly and affectionate.  The community aims to provide spaces where one feels wanted, desired, and liked.  It nourishes and values an individual’s process of making friends, of learning self-care and self-love through the unity and support of the community.  Bears, Cubs, Otters, Wolves, Chasers, Admirers and other wildlife comprise what has come to be known as the Brotherhood of Bears and/or the Bear community.

Ursula: Some lesbians, particularly butch dykes, also participate in Bear culture referring to themselves with the distinct label Ursula.

Look ino these books for more information and be sure to check back next month for everything bi- and pan-! 

Along the Journey River by Carole laFavor

Call Number: E-book

ISBN: 1452956081

Publication Date: 2017

Several sacred artifacts have gone missing from the Minnesota Red Earth Reservation and the suspect list is continuously growing. While it could be the racists from the bordering town, or a young man struggling with problems at home, or the county coroner and his cronies, the need for answers and apprehending the culprit is amplified when Jed Morriseau, the Tribal Chairman, is murdered. Investigating these mysterious occurrences because of tribal traditions and the honor of her family, Renee LaRoche works to track down the people responsible. But can she maintain her intense investigation as well as her new relationship with Samantha Salisbury, the visiting women's studies professor at the white college nearby? Renee is caught between the traditions of her tribe and efforts to help her chimook lover accept their cultural differences.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Call Number: W331t 2000

ISBN: 1573227889

Publication Date: 2000

"Erotic and absorbing...Written with starling power."--The New York Times Book Review   Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Call Number: W177c 1992

ISBN: 0151191549

Publication Date: 1992

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that tells the story of two sisters through their correspondence.

 

 

Too Much Flesh and Jabez C Dowell by C. Dowell

Call Number: D746t

ISBN: 0811206580

Publication Date: 1977

 

 

 

A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White (Afterword by); Allan Gurganus (Introduction by)

Call Number: W5835bo 2002

ISBN: 0679642544

Publication Date: 2002

At home, in school, and on the streets, a homosexual teenager moves through comic sexual experiments, isolation, fear, and exciting expectations toward an escape from childhood and a firm sense of self.

 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz; Mark Brabant (Cover Design by)

Call Number: S1275ar 2012

ISBN: 1442408928

Publication Date: 2012

A lyrical novel about family and friendship from critically acclaimed author Benjamin Alire Saenz. Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship--the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be.