The University of Cambridge hosts a wide range of resources to enrich research into queer topics. However, the University is vast, and its various departments, faculties, schools and other component parts are frequently intricately structured and sometimes difficult to navigate, and we know how hard it can be to find exactly what you are looking for. Here is a short guide to queer resources at the libraries here at the University, and a listing of relevant Journals. If you are at one of the University of Cambridge Libraries and you have a collection relevant to us here at Q+, please let us know.
There are over a hundred libraries in Cambridge! Find out where they are, when they are open, and what subjects they cover right here.
LGBTQ+ Resources and Collections
There is an up-to-date starter point on LibGuides for the LGBTQ+ resources available around the University and further afield. This guide provides links to reference sources, online collections, archives, and more, as well as giving guidance on how to search for relevant sources in a variety of supporting locations.
The Archives of Sexuality and Gender
This is a significant and remarkably comprehensive historical archive of primary sources, dating back as far as the sixteenth century, pertaining to for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. This growing archival program offers rich research opportunities to examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas. The Archives of Sexuality and Gender program consists of five archives: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I; LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II; Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century; International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture; and L'Enfer de la Bibliothèque nationale de France. Find put more about these five sections here.
Cambridge SU LGBTQ+ Library
The Harry Harris LGBTQ+ library is part of the Liberation Library, held at the Cambridge SU Lounge at 17 Mill Lane (which is conveniently right next door to us at Sociology). Named for the memory of Harry Harris, a talented poet and neurobiologist who held the position of trans rep for most of 2011, the collection aims to provide access to material that otherwise might prove inaccessible, including academic studies, autobiographies, hard-to-find music, novels and films. The Liberation Library's full catalogue can be downloaded here.
Gender Studies Collection at the SPS Library
The SPS Library hosts the Gender Studies Collection, a small collection of 242 publications donated to the SPS Library upon foundation of the Faculty, consisting of mostly pamphlets and zines, dating from the late 1960s to the 1980s. The collection includes keystone publications on LGBT issues, the liberation of men and women from patriarchy, advice on motherhood, abortion, childcare, race and employment. It is a closed collection, providing a fascinating snapshot of the political landscape underwriting the fight for gender equality and LGBT rights, frequently illustrating the counter-cultural nature of these struggles. Many of the materials are delicate and completely unique to Cambridge. As a result, the collection is not yet digitised and items cannot be withdrawn, but the physical items can be withdrawn and browsed at the Seeley Library on request.
The University Library
The University Library is the central resource point for the University of Cambridge. It is a copyright library, or a legal deposit. By law, a copy of every UK print publication must be given to the UL by its publishers, and to five other major libraries that request it. This system is called legal deposit and has been a part of English law since 1662. You can order any book you need, and you can contact relevant specialist librarians to recommend acquisitions. You can search for LGBTQ+ hard copies or online resources here by using iDiscover. We'd encourage everyone researching LGBTQ+ topics at Cambridge to make acquisition recommendations - the UL is always keen to receive such recommendations, and this will help build up queer resources for future Cambridge scholars. The University Library is on West Road. Accessibility information can be found here.
Each journal includes a brief bio and a link to their website. You can access many of these journals by finding them through the Cambridge University Library website. If you know of a journal or issue not listed here, feel free to get in touch and it will be added.
Contents
Journal of Homosexuality
LGBT Health
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services
Lesbian and Gay Studies
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health
Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
The Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality
Lambda Nordica
Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
Transgender Studies Quarterly
Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling
Journal of LGBT Youth
Journal of Homosexuality
Website
Editor: John Elia
About the journal:
The Journal of Homosexuality is an internationally acclaimed, peer-reviewed publication devoted to publishing a wide variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship to foster a thorough understanding of the complexities, nuances, and the multifaceted aspects of sexuality and gender. The chief aim of the journal is to publish thought-provoking scholarship by researchers, community activists, and scholars who employ a range of research methodologies and who offer a variety of perspectives to continue shaping knowledge production in the arenas of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) studies and queer studies.
LGBT Health
Website
Editor: William Byne
About the journal:
LGBT Health is the premier peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting optimal healthcare for millions of sexual and gender minority persons worldwide by focusing specifically on health while maintaining sufficient breadth to encompass the full range of relevant biopsychosocial and health policy issues. This Journal aims to promote greater awareness of the health concerns particular to each sexual minority population, and to improve availability and delivery of culturally appropriate healthcare services. LGBT Health also encourages further research and increased funding in this critical but currently underserved domain. The Journal provides a much-needed authoritative source and international forum in all areas pertinent to LGBT Health and healthcare services. Contributions from all continents are solicited including Asia and Africa which are currently underrepresented in sex research.
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services
Website
Editor: Melanie Otis
About the journal:
The Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services provides empirical knowledge and conceptual information related to sexual minorities and their social environment. Filled with innovative ideas and resources for the design, evaluation, and delivery of social services for these populations at all stages of life, the journal is a positive influence on the development of public and social policy, programs and services, and social work practice. Dedicated to the development of knowledge which meets the practical needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in their social context, the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services is a forum for studying, for example, the connection between the public issues of homophobia and heterosexism and the personal, day-to-day experiences of people affected by these attitudes.
Lesbian and Gay Studies
Website
Editors: Marcia Ochoa, Jennifer DeVere Brody
About the journal:
Providing a much-needed forum for interdisciplinary discussion, GLQ publishes scholarship, criticism, and commentary in areas as diverse as law, science studies, religion, political science, and literary studies. Its aim is to offer queer perspectives on all issues touching on sex and sexuality.
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health
Website
Editors: Philip A. Bialer, Christopher A. McIntosh
About the journal:
Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health seeks out and publishes the most current clinical and research scholarship on LGBT mental health with a focus on clinical issues. The Journal strives to represent the full breadth of LGBT mental health treatment, including issues relevant to patients and mental health care providers in all types of settings. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health also strives to cover the full spectrum of sexual and gender minority populations - lesbian, gay,bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer, and genderqueer.
Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
Website
Editor: John Gonsiorek
About the journal:
Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity®, the official publication of APA Division 44 (Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity), is a scholarly journal dedicated to the dissemination of information in the field of sexual orientation and gender diversity. It is a primary outlet for research particularly as it impacts practice, education, public policy, and social action.
The Tulane Journal of Law & Sexuality
Website
Editor: Camille Patti
About the journal:
The first and only student-edited law review in the country devoted solely to covering legal issues of interest to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community on a wide variety of subjects, including constitutional, employment, family, health, insurance, and military law. The Journal addresses all of these issues and more with theoretical and practical articles by academicians, practitioners, and students. This journal is published annually and has broad national and international circulation.
Lambda Nordica
Website
Editors: Jenny Björklund, Ulrika Dahl
About the journal:
lambda nordica is a Nordic scientific peer-reviewed journal presenting research in Humanities and Social Sciences with relation to LGBT and Queer Studies. We strive to support the dialogue between established and younger scholars to inspire to more LGBTQ research in the Nordic area and support the initiative to new research areas in the field. The journal also introduces and reviews international LGBTQ literature.
Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (1997-2002)
Website
No longer publishing
Editor: Vincent Silenzio
About the journal:
While several HIV-related and women's health journals now exist, no medical or scientific journal deals exclusively with lesbian and gay health. The Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association is the first peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal devoted entirely to the healthcare needs of the lesbian and gay male, bisexual, and transgender populations. The journal serves as a scientific forum for the presentation of data on the health needs of these populations and issues germane to them. Journal of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association publishes a wide variety of clinical research, review articles, and nonfiction essays and reflects the varied healthcare needs of the `population under study'.
Transgender Studies Quarterly
Website
Editors: Paisley Currah, Susan Stryker
About the journal:
Over the past two decades, transgender studies has become fertile ground for new approaches to cultural analysis. TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly offers a high-profile venue for innovative research and scholarship that contest the objectification, pathologization, and exoticization of transgender lives. It publishes interdisciplinary work that explores the diversity of gender, sex, sexuality, embodiment, and identity in ways that have not been adequately addressed by feminist and queer scholarship. Its mission is to foster a vigorous conversation among scholars, artists, activists, and others that examines how “transgender” comes into play as a category, a process, a social assemblage, an increasingly intelligible gender identity, an identifiable threat to gender normativity, and a rubric for understanding the variability and contingency of gender across time, space, and cultures. Major topics addressed in the first few issues include the cultural production of trans communities, critical analysis of transgender population studies, transgender biopolitics, radical critiques of political economy, and problems of translating gender concepts and practices across linguistic communities.
Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling
Website
Editor: Michael P Chaney
About the journal:
The Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling is the national, peer-refereed journal affiliated with the Association for LGBT Issues in Counseling, a division of the American Counseling Association. The journal publishes manuscripts that report cutting-edge empirical research, best practices, and emerging trends and issues focused on counseling the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, pansexual, or other sexual minority communities at all developmental stages of life. Manuscripts should be of interest to clinical mental health and school counselors, counselor educators, and other helping professionals who work in a variety of settings including schools, mental health agencies, family service agencies, colleges and universities, addiction and offender treatment settings, and sexual health centers.
Journal of LGBT Youth
Website
Editors: James T Sears, Kristopher Wells
About the journal:
The Journal of LGBT Youth is the interdisciplinary forum dedicated to improving the quality of life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. This quarterly journal presents peer-reviewed scholarly articles, practitioner-based essays, policy analyses, and revealing narratives from young people. This invaluable resource is committed to advancing knowledge about, and support of, LGBT youth. The wide-ranging topics include formal and non-formal education; family; peer culture; the media, arts, and entertainment industry; religious institutions and youth organizations; health care; and the workplace.
