Topics

Arts & Culture

  • queer performance art
  • LGBTQIA+ writers

Education

  • bullying in schools; opposition to anti-bullying efforts by those who want to maintain traditional gender roles and stereotypes
  • gender nonconforming children in schools

Gender

  • how people who identify as non-binary navigate a world that sees gender in binary terms
  • how nonbinary and transgender identities are similar and different
  • legal rights of transgender people
  • transgender visibility and "passing"
  • how sexual orientation (who you're attracted to) differs from gender identity (who you are)

History

  • LGBTQIA+ marches and political movements
  • LGBTQIA+ pioneers and activists
  • transgender history-- e.g., search transgender history in San Francisco
  • lesbian and gay history-- at what point did sexual behavior come to be seen as an identity?
  • history of bisexuality-- at what point was it recognized as an identity?
  • the influence of cultural norms and attitudes of a specific century or decade, and how/why people hid their feelings of same-sex attraction
  • was there a time period and location in which the social climate was more accepting of same-sex attraction and desire?
  • biography of a specific person in history whose trans identity or same-sex attraction was known or documented
  • Important Legislation for LGBTQIA+ people

International

  • contrast how LGBTQIA+ people experience life in other countries outside of the United States
  • compare and contrast laws and culture within the Asian continent
  • which countries are the most and least accepting of LGBTQIA+ people
  • LGBTQIA+ couples of differing nationalities-- can they live in the same country?
  • LGBTQIA+ rights worldwide (focusing on the "LGBTQIA+ climate" in a specific country or region)

Medicine

  • how are transgender people transforming the medical establishment?
  • sexual orientation-- what does biological research tell us about it?
  • LGBTQIA+ mental health; research shows LGBTQIA+ people have higher overall rates of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders
  • the diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" and how it has been reframed and is no longer a pathology

Parenting

  • parenting as a trans, nonbinary or gender fluid person
  • lesbian and gay parenting and adoption
  • new reproductive technologies for LGBTQIA+ people

Religion

  • the history of how LGBTQIA+ people have or have not been integrated into the priesthood of a particular faith
  • what new elements have LGBTQIA+ people brought to a particular faith
  • LGBTQIA+ themes in the Bible;
  • use of the Bible to justify mistreatment of LGBTQIA people

Sexual Orientation

  • bisexuality and issues that are unique to bisexual people
  • asexuality-- what is means, how it is often misunderstood;
  • new efforts at asexual visibility coming out stories/ coming out process;
  • challenges to the concept of "coming out"

Society & Politics

  • recent backlash against LGBTQIA+ people
  • gender identity and America's (or another nation's) changing cultural norms
  • opposition to gay rights
  • discrimination and treatment in the workplace (search also phrases such as "openly gay teachers")
  • violence and bullying of LGBTQIA+ people
  • marriage of LGBTQIA+ people to heterosexuals in order to "pass" (especially in traditional cultures)
  • queer film festivals as a step toward visibility
  • same-sex marriage -- who supports it, who opposes it, and which countries have legalized it
  • Rainbow capitalism

Article Databases

Scholarly and nonscholarly articles on LGBTQ topics can be found in the following sources (accessible to current Northeastern affiliates)

New:

For cultural studies, current events, political aspects, and all interdisciplinary topics:

For psychological aspects:

For sociological aspects:

For health aspects:

Additional databases

Video

It Gets Better