Queer Corner

Since June is Pride month, what better time to start a monthly mini-lesson on the Queer Community! This month is all about the basics, understanding what the community is, and what it means to be queer.

The Right Side of History tells the 100-year history of queer activism in a series of revealing close-ups, first-person accounts, and intimate snapshots of LGBT pioneers and radicals. This diverse cast stretches from the Edwardian period to today, including first-person accounts of the key protest that is at the heart of the 2015 movie Stonewall.

The book shows how LGBT folk have always been in the forefront of the progressive social evolution in the United States. It references heroes like Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, Bayard Rustin, Harvey Milk, and Edie Windsor. Equally, the book honors names that aren’t in history books, from participants in the Names Project, a national phenomenon memorializing 94,000 AIDS victims, to underground artists and writers.

Definitions of the month! 

LGBTQ: The acronym for “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.” Some people also use the Q to stand for "questioning," meaning people who are figuring out their sexual orientation or gender identity. You may also see LGBT+, LGBT*, LGBTx, or LGBTQIA. I stands for intersex and A for asexual/aromantic/agender. The "A" has also been used by some to refer to "ally." We will explore these terms in later months.

Sex: The biological differences between male and female.

Gender: The societal constructions we assign to male and female. When you hear someone say "gender stereotypes," they're referring to the ways we expect men/boys and women/girls to act and behave.

Queer: Originally used as a pejorative slur, queer has now become an umbrella term to describe the myriad ways people reject binary categories of gender and sexual orientation to express who they are. People who identify as queer embrace identities and sexual orientations outside of mainstream heterosexual and gender norms.

Check out these listings for more!

The Right Side of History by Adrian Brooks; Jonathan Katz (Foreword by)

Call Number: 323.326 B873r 2015

ISBN: 1627781234

Publication Date: 2015

The Right Side of History tells the 100-year history of queer activism in a series of revealing close-ups, first-person accounts, and intimate snapshots of LGBT pioneers and radicals.

Radical Love by Patrick S. Cheng

Call Number: 230.086 C518r 2011

ISBN: 1596271329

Publication Date: 2011

Cheng provides a historical survey of how queer theology has developed from the 1950s to today and then explicates the themes of queer theology using the ecumenical creeds as a general framework.

 

Queer (In)Justice by Andrea Ritchie; Joey Mogul; Kay Whitlock

Call Number: 342.73 M696q 2011

ISBN: 0807051160

Publication Date: 2011

A groundbreaking work that turns a "queer eye" on the criminal legal system, and winner of the 2011 PASS (Prevention for a Safer Society) Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. Drawing on years of research, activism, and legal advocacy, Queer (In)Justice is a searing examination of queer experiences--as "suspects," defendants, prisoners, and survivors of crime. The authors unpack queer criminal archetypes--like "gleeful gay killers," "lethal lesbians," "disease spreaders," and "deceptive gender benders"--to illustrate the punishment of queer expression, regardless of whether a crime was ever committed.