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Rutgers University Libraries

LGBTQ Studies: Primary Sources

This guide provides access to multidisciplinary resources in LGBTQ Studies.

Featured Resource

Navy Discharge Letter, 1914

(Via the New York Public Library's LGBT @ NYPL Blog)

An excerpt:

Letter addressed to Cal Chord, El ic (R), USS Glacier, Pacific Station, via San Francisco, Cal.

                                                                                                 Washington, D.C.                            June 19, ‘14.

Dear friend, Cal :- 

            I am writing this under peculiar circumstances. 

            It may surprise you, but the fact is I have received an undesirable discharge, under the most indefinite motives or charges. The fact is I don’t know with the exception of “Undesirability” just what the real cause is, although I have a suspicion.

 

Read the whole letter at the LGBT @ NYPL Blog.

LGBTQ Newsletters and Magazines

The Ladder (1956-57, 1964-66, 1970-72)

TWO: The Homosexual Viewpoint in Canada (1964-66)

Vice Versa (1947-48)

Featured Resource

June 1966 cover of The Ladder

"Initially envisioned as a recruitment tool for a new gay women's group in San Francisco, The Ladder was the first ongoing monthly publication in the U.S. created by lesbians for lesbians. Launched in October 1956 by the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), it would attract new members to the struggling social club; at the same time, it added an important female voice to the small, male-dominated homophile ("love of same") movement of the mid-1950s. During its sixteen years of continuous publication, The Ladder also became a respected site of debate and analysis for the growing gay movement while expanding contemporary attitudes about lesbians and reflecting adamantly pro-woman perspectives. In its final years, from 1968 to 1972, The Ladder promoted the ideologies and activism of the emerging feminist movement as well as showcasing demands for lesbian liberation."

From the "Introduction" of: 

Gallo, Marcia M. 2010. The Ladder: A Lesbian Review, 1956-1972: an Interpretation and Document Archive. Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street Press

Archival Collections at Rutgers

ACT UP/NY [microform] : the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power/New York records. Woodbridge, CT : Primary Source Microfilm, 1999. 159 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. + 1 printed guide DOUGLASS Microfilm 82

New Jersey Lesbian and Gay Coalition. Records, 1980-1992.Special Collections MC 914

The gay rights movement [microform] [1951-1976] : Mattachine Society of New York, Inc. : from the International Gay Information Center, The New York Public Library. Woodbridge, Conn : Research Publications, 1998. 24 reels ; 35 mm. + 1 guide ALEXANDER Microfilm 2789

The gay rights movement, [microform] [1970-1983] : Gay Activists Alliance : from the International Gay Information Center, The New York Public Library. Woodbridge, Conn. : Research Publications, 1998.21 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. + 1 guide ALEXANDER Microfilm 2788

Susan Cavin Papers, 1971-1991. Special Collections R-MC 007

Document Collection Books

Gay and lesbian rights in the United States : a documentary history / edited by Walter L. Williams and Yolanda Retter. Westport, Conn. ; London : Greenwood Press, 2003. ALEXANDER HQ76.8.U5G37 2003

Bodies of evidence : the practice of queer oral history / edited by Nan Alamilla Boyd and Horacio N. Roque Ramírez. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, c2012. DOUGLASS HQ76.3.U5B63 2012

The lesbian history sourcebook : love and sex between women in Britain from 1780 to 1970 / [compiled by] Alison Oram and Annmarie Turnbull.London ; New York : Routledge, 2001. DOUGLASS HQ75.6.G7L47 2001

Great events from history : gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender events, 1848-2006 / editorial board, Lillian Faderman ... [et al.].Pasadena, Calif. : Salem Press, c2007. ALEXANDER HQ73.G74 2007

A homosexual emancipation miscellany, c. 1835-1952. New York : Arno Press, 1975. DOUGLASS HQ76.H664 1975

Homosexuality in Greece and Rome : a sourcebook of basic documents / edited by Thomas K. Hubbard. Berkeley, Calif. ; London : University of California Press, c2003. ALEXANDER HQ76.3.G8H66 2003

Homosexuality in early modern France : a documentary collection / edited by Jeffrey Merrick, Bryant T. Ragan, Jr.New York : Oxford University Press, 2001. DOUGLASS HQ76.3.F8H645 2001


Nineteenth-century writings on homosexuality : a sourcebook / edited by Chris White. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999. ALEXANDER PR1111.H57N56 1999

Statistics and Data

Statistical data is first-hand evidence, a primary source! See the Statistics & Data page within this guide. 

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