Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex and Allies
Many members of the LGBTQI community (and outside the community, too!) argue that individuals should be able to self-identify. UC Berkeley's Gender Equity Resource Center notes one definition of queer as "A political statement, as well as a sexual orientation, which advocates breaking binary thinking and seeing both sexual orientation and gender identity as potentially fluid." Some LGBTQI- identified individuals do not believe in defining or labeling themselves at all.
I've always felt that sexuality is a really slippery thing. In this day and age, it tends to get categorized and labeled, and I think labels are for food. Canned food. - Michael Stipe (Out Magazine, January 1999)
Most of the resources in this guide focus on the voices of LGBTQI-identified people, either through personal narratives, or through organizations serving the community. Many LGBTQI individuals still face injustice, and the need to represent the community's concerns and voices is crucial. For more information, read Injustice at every turn: A report of the national transgender discrimination survey or Human Rights Watch's website about worldwide abuses of LGBT rights.
Some of the links, videos and other resources on this guide are freely available on the web. Others are resources that CUNY libraries subscribe to, and are only available to the CUNY/Hostos community. In those cases, you will be prompted to login and you should do so with your CUNY Login (firstname.lastname##).