Inclusion Is Wellness: Transgender Health

| By Sam Long (he/him) – a transgender man and a high school teacher specializing in gender-inclusive biology education | In the last weeks of the school year, I invited my class to share their exciting summer plans. Many of my high school students were looking forward to spending time with their families, playing their … Read more

Get Your Primary Sources!

| By Gale Staff | The New York Academy of Medicine Library is home to one of the most significant historical libraries in medicine and public health in the world, safeguarding the heritage of medicine to inform the future of health. Their goal: to provide patrons with access to “closed” materials in ways they too … Read more

Libraries Are More Than Safe Spaces

Libraries Safe Space LGBTQ

A passion shared by librarians is the belief that libraries should be welcoming, free, and open to all while providing equitable service to their communities. Librarians recognize that these communities are typically made up of smaller, ancillary groups and librarians strive to develop services and collections tailored to meet the special needs of these groups. … Read more

Bring All the Colors of the Rainbow to Your Collection

Posted  on June 7, 2016

By Liz Mason, Vice President, Product, Gale

Searching for an “unparalleled assemblage of newsletters, newspapers, and periodicals by, for, and about gays and lesbians?” Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity, Part 1: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 brings together approximately 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Rare and unique content from microfilm, newsletters, organizational papers, government documents, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other types of primary sources sheds light on the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more.

LGBTQ issues were at the forefront of the news in 2015. A major U.S. Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, high-profile transgender celebrity appearances, and many related stories dominated social news. Many media have declared the Rainbow Revolution in full effect. And while LGBTQ resources have been published for many years (the USC library began their collection in 1952), access to materials has been limited and not broadly publicized. In fact, libraries with significant LGBTQ collections remain small in number.

Read moreBring All the Colors of the Rainbow to Your Collection

New LGBTQ Digital Archive Collection Just Released–Trial Now

Posted February 8, 2016

by Jessica Bomarito, Acquisitions Editor, Gale

Gale Digital Collections

Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940

With material drawn from hundreds of institutions and organizations, including both major international activist organizations and local, grassroots groups, the documents in the Archives of Human Sexuality and Identity: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 present important aspects of LGBTQ life in the second half of the twentieth century and beyond. The archive illuminates the experiences not just of the LGBTQ community as a whole, but of individuals of different races, ethnicities, ages, religions, political orientations, and geographical locations that constitute this community. Historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals are featured, as well as publications by and for lesbians and gays, and extensive coverage of governmental responses to the AIDS crisis. The archive also contains personal correspondence and interviews with numerous LGBTQ individuals, among others. The archive includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more.

Read moreNew LGBTQ Digital Archive Collection Just Released–Trial Now

Product Update: Gale’s In Context

Posted on June 12, 2015

We added new content and resources to some of your favorite In Context products. Take a look at what’s available:

Biography in Context
New homepages added that spotlight the following:

  • Caitlyn (formerly Bruce) Jenner
  • Napoleon Bonaparte, the French leader who suffered his ultimate defeat at the Battle of Waterloo (200 years ago this month)
  • Alex Morgan, an American soccer player heading to the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada
  • Haider al-Abadi, the Prime Minister of Iraq
  • Edith Windsor, the woman who challenged the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013

Content Notes added citing the recent passing of Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Beau Biden, who lost his battle with brain cancer on May 30, 2015.

Read moreProduct Update: Gale’s In Context

In Other News: Caitlyn Jenner & Gender Identity

transgender symbol

A look at a current news item through the lens of different titles available on GVRL to find research inspiration.

By Michelle Eickmeyer

When Bruce Jenner sat down with Diane Sawyer, he openly discussed a battle he has been fighting for most of his life. And on 24 April, he let the world in on his secret: Bruce Jenner, American hero athlete and reality pseudo-star, is transgender. Though Jenner is an actual stranger to most of us, many people do feel that they know Bruce. They may have seen him on TV, or on a magazine cover. They may have rooted for him all those years ago as he seemed to embody America’s battle against the USSR. Because of this unique position and circumstance, Jenner’s revelations and transition are special. For the first time, perhaps ever, most of the country (if not the world) can truly say they know someone who identifies as transgender. On ` June, the world said goodbye to Bruce, and hello to Caitlyn Jenner. She is who she has always been, and is now sharing her battle to be herself, and her appearance, with the world.

Caitlyn is the most recent in a growing list of main-stream transgender people. In 2007, Candis Cayne turned heads as Billy Baldwin’s mistress for 11 episodes on ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, marking the first time a trans character appeared for more than a single episode on prime time American television. Chaz Bono began his transition in 2008, after suffering for years with the press. Laverne Cox, one of the stars of Orange is the New Black, became the first transgender person to appear on the cover of Time Magazine (May 2014) for an article titled “The Transgender Tipping Point.” Andreja Pejic (Instagram) was the first transgender model to appear in Vogue magazine while Hari Nef (Instagram) signed with modeling agency IMF earlier this year, a first for the powerhouse agency. There are others, famous and not, making changes every day.

Less 1/3 of 1% of the U.S. population identify as transgender (Source). Historically, this group is the recipients of an extremely disproportionate amount of violence, 20% of murders and 40% of violence by police. (Source) More recent statistics for the first quarter of 2014 show that 10% of violent crimes were committed against trans kids under 18. Kids.They were beaten, stabbed, stoned, shot, hanged, strangled, and dismembered. (Source) Sometimes by strangers; sometimes by family. Too often, they kill themselves.

Read moreIn Other News: Caitlyn Jenner & Gender Identity