Gay and Lbian Studi | The New York Public Library

Contents:

• GAY AND LBIAN STUDI
• WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?
• THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS
• WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

GAY AND LBIAN STUDI

Gay and Lbian Studi is by nature cross-disciplary, verg a wi range of tellectual bas: lerature, history, relign, psychology, soclogy, philosophy, anthropology, medice, law, fe arts, and others.

Dpe the prence of large numbers of homosexuals New York Cy and other urban centers the Uned Stat and throughout the world, their history has often been neglected or margalized, a ttimony to the hibg factors of legal rtrictns on certa forms of sexual nduct, the lack of anizatn among gay men and lbians, and the unwillgns of the larger society to regnize the value and mer of different forms of erotic and affectnal exprsn. The term "uranian" was nsired, but failed to fd favor and was replaced by words such as "homosexual" and "homophile, " arbrary nstctns which, though workable, have been emed too clil some quarters. Although the pneers of the gay rights movement are ld by civil libertarians and activists for their ntributn to the polil and social liberatn of homosexuals, they are also signifint for their ncern regnizg the importance of llectg and prervg materials relatg to homosexuals and their vehicl of self-exprsn and intifitn.

WHY ARE PEOPLE GAY? GAY BY CHOICE OR IS BEG GAY GEIC?

Yet this nascent attempt at intifyg and llectg materials relatg to the homosexual experience was self hibed and circumscribed by the need of many lbians and gay men to lead hidn liv, fearful that self-disclosure would rult a loss of employment or legal difficulti. Of urse, this very secrecy has ma rearch strategi to the area of gay studi problematic, wh scholars eher attemptg to tu meangs not overtly exprsed historil rerds or employg materials (such as urt or police reports) to intify behavr not discsed more nventnal sourc. The published materials the Rearch Librari are plemented by mancript llectns reflectg the donatn to the Library of var archiv, the most signifint beg that of the Internatnal Gay Informatn Center, the ventory for which is available at the Informatn Dk room 315.

The archiv clu the rerds of anizatns such as the Gay Activists Alliance and the Mattache Society; the personal papers of Arthur Bell, Jonathan Katz, and other gay men and lbians; gay- and lbian-related perdils, both domtic and foreign; ephemera such as posters, flyers, announcements, gay ic and lorg books, t-shirts, buttons and gam; and d-visual materials. Reflectg the age of s time, the Dictnary Catalog provis no subject headg for Gay and few entri n be found unr Lbian or Homosexualy; the ma subject entry for material alg wh male and female homosexualy is Sexual Inversn.

For example, enterg Gays Milary as a subject headg retriev no rerds; however, utilizg the terms as keywords do rult retrievg a catn which, when displayed as a full rerd, yields the appropriate subject headgs through which other relevant tl n be found. The qutn of appropriate subject headgs for this new disciple and the value of same for rearchers is ably addrsed by Ellen Greenblatt her say "Homosexualy: The Evolutn of a Concept the Library of Congrs Subject Headgs" Gay and Lbian Library Service (JFE 91-2095) which provis an excellent overview and guil. This extensively annotated biblgraphy of 1265 ems published English (cludg translatns) between 1940-1968 exclus bell-lettr, popular prs, and newspapers; material om gay and lbian publitns has been generally exclud.

THERE IS NO ‘GAY GENE.’ THERE IS NO ‘STRAIGHT GENE.’ SEXUALY IS JT PLEX, STUDY NFIRMS

The past twenty-five years have wnsed the emergence of gay lerature om the realms of the clanste to the macurrents of cultural thought, and the tablishment of a major lerary movement wh an ever-creasg non of work.

WATCH VIRAL FOOTAGE OF KG VON ADMTG TO BEG GAY TO THE POLICE

It is a movement that, by reachg eply to the shared and dividual experienc and plexi of homosexual life, is layg claim to all the potential for exprsive thought that lerature offers, takg issue wh the unte and illumatg the universal human need and sire for self-worth, affirmatn, pleasure, gratifitn, and love.

The followg statement om The Lbian and Gay Studi Rear (New York: Routledge, 1993), pag 653-654, is valuable for s analysis of the current state of perdil lerature gay and lbian studi:.