Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)
Keep in mind that definitions can vary greatly across communities and individuals, and that it is best to give all patients an opportunity to provide information on how they identify when seeking care.
LGBTQ – Abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer. An umbrella term that is often used to refer to the community as a whole.
Books Videos Podcasts Peer Reviewed Articles
Recommended Books
Charity and Sylvia: A Same-Sex Marriage in Early America
Author: Rachel Hope Cleves
Published: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 0199335427
ISBN13: 9780199335428
Pages: 267
“A unique and often untold story of early LGBT American history, Charity and Sylviadocuments the true history of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, two nineteenth century women who decided to live together as a married couple. Using original letters, diaries, and poetry, author and historian Rachel Hope Cleves paints an intimate picture of the 44-year union between these two women, illuminating an often darkened piece of history.”– Bustle
The Velvet Rage: Overcoming the Pain of Growing up Gay in a Straight Man’s World
Author: Alan Downs, PhD
Published: April 25, 2006
ISBN: 0738210617
ISBN13: 9780738210612
Pages: 212
“In The Velvet Rage, psychologist Alan Downs draws on his own struggle with shame and anger, contemporary research, and stories from his patients to passionately describe the stages of a gay man’s journey out of shame and offers practical and inspired strategies to stop the cycle of avoidance and self-defeating behavior. The Velvet Rage is an empowering book that has already changed the public discourse on gay culture and helped shape the identity of an entire generation of gay men.” – Hachette Book Group
Surpassing Certainty: What my Twenties Taught Me
Author: Janet Mock
Published: June 13 2017
ISBN: 1501145797
ISBN13: 9781501145797
Pages: 256
“The journey begins a few months before her twentieth birthday. Janet Mock is adjusting to her days as a first-generation college student at the University of Hawaii and her nights as a dancer at a strip club. Finally content in her body, she vacillates between flaunting and concealing herself as she navigates dating and disclosure, sex and intimacy, and most important, letting herself be truly seen. Under the neon lights of Club Nu, Janet meets Troy, a yeoman stationed at Pearl Harbor naval base, who becomes her first. The pleasures and perils of their union serve as a backdrop for Janet’s progression through her early twenties with all the universal growing pains—falling in and out of love, living away from home, and figuring out what she wants to do with her life.
Despite her disadvantages, fueled by her dreams and inimitable drive, Janet makes her way through New York City while holding her truth close. She builds a career in the highly competitive world of magazine publishing—within the unique context of being trans, a woman, and a person of color.
Long before she became one of the world’s most respected media figures and lauded leaders for equality and justice, Janet was a girl taking the time she needed to just be—to learn how to advocate for herself before becoming an advocate for others. As you witness Janet’s slow-won success and painful failures, Surpassing Certainty will embolden you, shift the way you see others, and affirm your journey in search of self.” – Atria Books
Love Wins: The Lovers and Lawyers Who Fought the Landmark Case for Marriage Equality
Original Title: Twenty One Years to Midnight
Authors: Debbie Cenziper, Jim Obergefell
Published: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 0062456083
ISBN13: 9780062456083
Pages: 304
“The fascinating and very moving story of the lovers, lawyers, judges and activists behind the groundbreaking Supreme Court case that led to one of the most important, national civil rights victories in decades—the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In June 2015, the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law in all fifty states in a decision as groundbreaking as Roe v Wade and Brown v Board of Education. Through insider accounts and access to key players, this definitive account reveals the dramatic and previously unreported events behind Obergefell v Hodges and the lives at its center. This is a story of law and love—and a promise made to a dying man who wanted to know how he would be remembered.
Twenty years ago, Jim Obergefell and John Arthur fell in love in Cincinnati, Ohio, a place where gays were routinely picked up by police and fired from their jobs. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had to provide married gay couples all the benefits offered to straight couples. Jim and John—who was dying from ALS—flew to Maryland, where same-sex marriage was legal. But back home, Ohio refused to recognize their union, or even list Jim’s name on John’s death certificate. Then they met Al Gerhardstein, a courageous attorney who had spent nearly three decades advocating for civil rights and who now saw an opening for the cause that few others had before him.
This forceful and deeply affecting narrative—Part Erin Brockovich, part Milk, part Still Alice—chronicles how this grieving man and his lawyer, against overwhelming odds, introduced the most important gay rights case in U.S. history. It is an urgent and unforgettable account that will inspire readers for many years to come.” – HarperCollinsPublishers
Nevada
Author: Imogen Binnie
Published: April 2, 2013
ISBN: 0983242232
ISBN13: 9780983242239
Pages: 262
“Nevada is the darkly comedic story of Maria Griffiths, a young trans woman living in New York City and trying to stay true to her punk values while working retail. When she finds out her girlfriend has lied to her, the world she thought she’d carefully built for herself begins to unravel, and Maria sets out on a journey that will most certainly change her forever.” – Bookwire by Bowker
Giovanni’s Room
Author: James Baldwin
Published: September 12, 2013 (First in 1956)
ISBN: 0345806565
ISBN13: 9780345806567
Pages: 176
“James Baldwin’s groundbreaking novel about love and the fear of love is set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris.
David is a young American expatriate who has just proposed marriage to his girlfriend, Hella. While she is away on a trip, David meets a bartender named Giovanni to whom he is drawn in spite of himself. Soon the two are spending the night in Giovanni’s curtainless room, which he keeps dark to protect their privacy. But Hella’s return to Paris brings the affair to a crisis, one that rapidly spirals into tragedy. Caught between his repressed desires and conventional morality, David struggles for self-knowledge during one long, dark night—“the night which is leading me to the most terrible morning of my life.” With sharp, probing insight, Giovanni’s Room tells an impassioned, deeply moving story that lays bare the unspoken complexities of the human heart.
Introduction by Colm Tóibín” – Penguin Random House
The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle
Author: Lillian Faderman
Published: September 8, 2005
ISBN: 1451694113
ISBN13: 9781451694116
Pages: 816
“The sweeping story of the struggle for gay and lesbian rights—based on amazing interviews with politicians, military figures, and members of the entire LGBT community who face these challenges every day: “This is the history of the gay and lesbian movement that we’ve been waiting for” (The Washington Post).
The fight for gay and lesbian civil rights—the years of outrageous injustice, the early battles, the heart-breaking defeats, and the victories beyond the dreams of the gay rights pioneers—is the most important civil rights issue of the present day. In “the most comprehensive history to date of America’s gay-rights movement” (The Economist), Lillian Faderman tells this unfinished story through the dramatic accounts of passionate struggles with sweep, depth, and feeling.
The Gay Revolution begins in the 1950s, when gays and lesbians were criminals, psychiatrists saw them as mentally ill, churches saw them as sinners, and society victimized them with hatred. Against this dark backdrop, a few brave people began to fight back, paving the way for the revolutionary changes of the 1960s and beyond. Faderman discusses the protests in the 1960s; the counter reaction of the 1970s and early eighties; the decimated but united community during the AIDS epidemic; and the current hurdles for the right to marriage equality.
“A compelling read of a little-known part of our nation’s history, and of individuals whose stories range from heart-wrenching to inspiring to enraging to motivational” (Chicago Tribune), The Gay Revolution paints a nuanced portrait of the LGBT civil rights movement. A defining account, this is the most complete and authoritative book of its kind.” – Simon & Schuster
Recommended Videos
Yoruba Richen: What the Gay Rights Movement Learned from the Civil Rights Movement
“As a member of both the African American and LGBT communities, filmmaker Yoruba Richen is fascinated with the overlaps and tensions between the gay rights and the civil rights movements. She explores how the two struggles intertwine and propel each other forward — and, in an unmissable argument, she dispels a myth about their points of conflict. A powerful reminder that we all have a stake in equality.” – TED2014
Natalie Perry: A Queerspawn View on Closeted LGBTQ Families
“When Natalie’s father came out to her immediate family 20 years ago, they all stepped into the closet. As a former Chief Judge for the Idaho State Court of Appeals, maintaining his employment and hard-earned success was vital to their family unit. Natalie chronicles the highs and lows of growing up in a closeted gay family in one of the most conservative states in the country. Natalie is an author and LGBTQ+ family advocate. Her book, Dad #1, Dad #2: A Queerspawn View from the Closet, is the first memoir written by a child growing up in a closeted LGBTQ+ family. Natalie also raises awareness for LGBTQ+ identities through art.”– TEDxBoise
Jackson Bird: How to Talk (and Listen) to Transgender People
“Gender should be the least remarkable thing about someone, but transgender people are still too often misunderstood. To help those who are scared to ask questions or nervous about saying the wrong thing, Jackson Bird shares a few ways to think about trans issues. And in this funny, frank talk, he clears up a few misconceptions about pronouns, transitioning, bathrooms and more.” – TEDMED 2017
LZ Granderson: The Myth of the Gay Agenda
“In a funny talk with an urgent message, LZ Granderson points out the absurdity in the idea that there’s a “gay lifestyle,” much less a “gay agenda.” What’s actually on his agenda? Being a good partner — and being a good parent.” – TEDxGrandRapids
Fox Fisher: My Transgender Experience
“Fox Fisher is a filmmaker who documents the vitality and diversity of the trans community. At TEDxBrighton, he reveals how he came to the decision to medically transition from female-bodied to male-bodied, and how that kickstarted a mission to help tell the unique stories of gender-variant people. It’s a narrative, he says, made up of so much more than surgery stories and hyped-up caricatures.”– TedBlog
Alice Miller: The Importance of Being Alice
“For years, Alice Miller worked hard to be “just a normal guy,” doing everything she could to squelch her feelings that she actually ought to be a girl. But those feelings never went away. After twenty years in the CIA, two marriages, two kids, and in the middle of a distinguished academic career, Alice transitioned to live full-time as a woman. In a moving talk from TEDxStanford, she explains why.” – TedBlog
Recommended Podcasts
Podcast: Homoground
Episode: Nicole Schneit of Air Waves – Brooklyn, NY
Created: August 31, 2017
Duration: 28 minutes and 59 seconds
Overview: Lambda Legal, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and everyone living with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
Click here to listen.
Podcast: Outsports
Episode: Gay Teacher is the Ultimate College Football Fan
Created: August 31, 2017
Duration: 28 minutes and 59 seconds
Overview: Chicago-area schoolteacher Andres Bauhs has a goal — to attend a game at all 130 FBS (Division I-A) college football stadiums across the country. At 65 stadiums and counting, he’s halfway there. His husband of five years, Olin, travels with him on most weekends, filling the role of dutiful videographer. Bauhs talks about the great traditions of college football but also what being gay means to his travels. “Being gay and tackling this quest has been an awkward experience for me at times,” he says. “Certain locations we descend upon make it challenging to perform a simple action like holding hands.”
Episode: First Openly LGBT Coach in NFL History
Created: August 31, 2017
Duration: 28 minutes and 59 seconds
Overview: San Francisco 49ers assistant coach Katie Sowers is a pro football pioneer. This season, she will become the NFL’s second full-time assistant female coach. She will also become the league’s first openly LGBT coach, male or female. “No matter what you do in life, one of the most important things is to be true to who you are,” Sowers, openly lesbian, told Outsports when asked why she is discussing her sexual orientation publicly for the first time. “There are so many people who identify as LGBT in the NFL, as in any business, that do not feel comfortable being public about their sexual orientation.”
Podcast: National Public Radio – Code Switch
Episode: Looking for Marriage in all the Wrong Places
Created: June 20, 2018
Duration: 32 minutes and 16 seconds
Overview: Online matchmaking sites are making it easier than ever for couples seeking an arranged marriage to meet. Well…not all couples.
Episode: UPDATE – Looking for Marriage in all the Wrong Places
Created: September 6, 2018
Duration: 33 minutes and 8 seconds
Overview: In a unanimous decision, India’s Supreme Court struck down a long-standing ban on gay sex. In light of this, we’re revisiting an episode about same-sex love and dating apps for South Asians.
Podcast: New York Times – Still Processing
Episode: We Chose our Own Families
Created: July 12, 2018
Duration: 56 minutes and 54 seconds
Overview: This week, we take a deep dive into “Pose,” Ryan Murphy’s new show on FX, and unpack the role of queer chosen families in pop culture. We dissect some of our favorite scenes — featuring Blanca Abundance Evangelista (Mj Rodriguez), Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson), and Angel (Indya Moore) — and celebrate the nuanced stories told of queer and trans characters of color by queer and trans people of color. Are we free to create chosen families that support who we are and who we’re trying to be, or are we destined to replicate the burdens and blessings of our biological families?
Podcast: National Public Radio – Strange Fruit
Episode: Is There a “One-Drop Rule” of Sexual Fluidity?
Created: February 4, 2018
Duration: 46 minutes and 15 seconds
Overview: This week we talk to author and poet Kyla Jenee Lacey, whose essay, “Why I’m Open to Dating Bisexual Men,” was published last month on The Root. At first glance, it might seen biphobic that we even need a headline like that, but it’s apparently still A Thing. Or as Lacey says, “It’s 2018, in the year of our lord and savior Robyn Rihanna Fenty, and people are still 7-year-olds when it comes to sexual fluidity.” Lacey calls it the “one-drop rule” approach to sexual fluidity, and here’s how she describes it: “If a man has sex with one man and 100 women, we will still erroneously view him as gay and not bisexual, or sexually fluid, or even just a heterosexual man who experimented with a man and came to the conclusion that he didn’t like men. Women, on the other hand can have a whole bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate phase of having had sex with women and then turn around and reclaim their heterosexuality.”
Click here to listen.
Recommended Peer Reviewed Articles
Click the title of each article to download it; your Net ID maybe required.
- Expanding Conceptualizations of Social Justice across All Levels of Social Work Practice: Recognition Theory and Its Contributions
- Disparities in Access to Care in Marginalized Populations
- Barriers to Insurance Coverage for Transgender Patients
- Is the Lack of Specific Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Health Care Education in Medical School a Cause for Concern? Evidence from a Survey of Knowledge and Practice among United Kingdom Medical Students
- In Pursuit of Change: Conceptualizing the Social Work Response to LGBTQ Microaggressions in Health Settings
- Improving Alcohol and Mental Health Treatment for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women: Identity Matters
Click Here to download a list above with additional details, including citations.