Archives of sexuality & gender.

Provides a robust collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, and gender from the 16th century to the present.

Archive 1 presents important aspects of LGBTQ life primarily in the second half of the twentieth century, including historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals, publications by and for lesbians and gays, extensive coverage of the AIDS crisis, and personal correspondence and interviews with numerous LGBTQ individuals. Includes gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries, documents related to gay rights and health, including the worldwide impact of AIDS, materials tracing LGBTQ activism in Britain from 1950 through 1980, and more. Includes records of the Gay Activists Alliance, ACT UP, and the largest British LGBTQ rights groups during the 1970s: the Committee for Homosexual Equality in England and the Scottish Minorities Group in Scotland. In addition, the archive has extensive material related to feminism, women's rights, and women's concerns, including files from the Lesbian Herstory Archives concerning the women's liberation movement, and the Sexual Politics in Britain collection documenting the British wing of the movement.

Archive 2 expands coverage of the less "mainstream" groups in the LGBTQ community, including lesbian and gay student groups, Two-Spirit people, the Jewish LGBTQ community, lesbian and gay Christian groups, and bisexual, transvestite, and transgender communities. Highlights include: diaries, correspondence, and photographs of Vera 'Jack' Holme; papers of the Gay Christian Movement (GCM), founded in 1976; posters from the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives illustrating Pride events, AIDS awareness, and more; transcripts of oral histories; and John Kyper's writings about the gay liberation movement in Mexico. Includes further periodicals, manuscripts, government records, organizational papers, and correspondence.

Archive 3 is made up of more than 5,000 rare and unique books covering sex, sexuality, and gender issues across the sciences and humanities and throughout history. It examines topics such as patterns of fertility and sexual practice; prostitution; religion and sexuality; the medical and legal construction of sexualities; and the rise of sexology. It not only offers a reflection of the cultural and social attitudes of the past, but also a window into how sexuality and gender roles were viewed and changed over time. Includes the Private Case from the British Library, books segregated from the main library from the 1850s to 1990 on grounds of obscenity; Special Subject Units from Sex Research: Early Literature from Statistics to Erotica, a collection from the Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research dating from 1700 to 1860; and a collection of rare books from the New York Academy of Medicine, consisting of more than 1,400 monographs covering a variety of topics in sex, sexuality, and gender studies.

Archive 4 examines diversity in underrepresented areas of the world such as southern Africa and Australia, highlighting cultural and social histories, struggles for rights and freedoms, explorations of sexuality, and organizations and key figures in LGBTQ history. It insures LGBTQ stories and experiences are preserved. Among many diverse and historical 20th century collections, materials include: the Papers of Simon Nkoli, a prominent South African anti-apartheid, gay and lesbian rights, and HIV/AIDS activist; Exit newspaper (formerly Link/Skakel), South Africa's longest running monthly LGBTQ publication; Geographic Files, also known as "Lesbians in..." with coverage from Albania to Zimbabwe; and the largest available collection of digitized Australian LGBTQ periodicals. Made up of three collections: Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA), Johannesburg, South Africa (GALA); Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (ALGA); and Lesbian Herstory Archives, Brooklyn, New York (LHA).

Description based on contents viewed on February 4, 2019; title from resource home page.