Guides: LGBTQ+ Studies: Find Archival, Primary &amp; Film Sources

About Archival and Primary Sources

Below, you wil find resources, available from the McGill University Library, for finding primary, archival or original sources and streaming LGBTQ+ thematic film resources in LGBTQ+ Studies.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns please contact the Librarian for LGBTQ+ Studies:
Michael David MILLER.

Archives of Human Sexuality and Gender

Archives of Sexuality and Gender (Gale Primary Sources)
LGBTQ history and culture since 1940. Archive containing historical records of political and social organizations founded by LGBTQ individuals, personal correspondence, interviews, publications, gay and lesbian newspapers from more than 35 countries.
New modules: L'Enfer de la Bibliotheque Nationale de France; International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture; and Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century.
The content of this database is available for text-mining through Gale Digital Scholar Lab
Includes reports, policy statements, and other documents related to gay rights and health.Documents span from 1940 to 2014, with the bulk from 1950 to 1990.

Digital Transgender Archive

Digital Transgender Archive
Access to digitized trans collections from archives and libraries from across the globe. Notably, collections from the Transgender Archives of the University of Victoria, the CLGA, the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection of the University of Minnesota and so many more.

GLTB Historical Society Digital Collections

Online Collections - GLBT Historical Society
Based in San Francisco (California), the GLBT Historical Society has digitized a selection of its collections and made them freely accessible online.

Primary and Archival Databases

LGBT Thought & Culture (Alexander Street)
>> LGBT Thought & Culture is an online resource hosting books, periodicals, and archival materials documenting LGBT political, social and cultural movements throughout the twentieth century and into the present day.
>> The collection includes documents ranging from letters, speeches, interviews, and ephemera covering the political evolution of gay rights as well as memoirs, biographies, poetry, letters and works of fiction that illuminate the lives of lesbians, gays, transgendered, and bisexual individuals and the community
>> It features select rare works from notable LGBT publishers including Alyson Books and Cleis Press, as well as mainstream trade and university publishers. It is also seeking to represent the major winners of both the Stonewall Book Awards and Lambda Literary Awards, many of which are no longer in print.
LGBT Studies in Video (Alexander Street)
>> LGBT Studies in Video is a cinematic survey of the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as well as the cultural and political evolution of the LGBT community.
>> It features award-winning documentaries, interviews, archival footage, and select feature films exploring LGBT history, gay culture and subcultures, civil rights, marriage equality, LGBT families, AIDS, transgender issues, religious perspectives on homosexuality, global comparative experiences, and other topics.
>> A primary partner for this collection is Frameline, a nonprofit media organization that produces the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the oldest film festival devoted to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender programming currently in existence.
Defining Gender, 1450-1910 (Adam Matthew)
Defining Gender provides access to a vast body of original British source material that will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective.
LGBT Magazine Archive (ProQuest)
Archival runs of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests including the US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. This material also serves related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology, health, and the arts. Some publications may contain explicit content. Library can facilitate negotiating text-mining rights for this database for McGill faculty and students wishing to acquire the rights with their own research funds. Please contact Digital Scholarship Hub- dshub.library@mcgill.ca, Subject: ProQuest text or data mining question.
Coverage: 1954 - 2015

Streaming Video Resources

Academic Video Online (Alexander Street)
Over 70,000 streaming films and documentaries.
Use the filter by subject to find films on gender, sexuality, race, women, feminism, social justice etc.
LGBT Studies in Video (Alexander Street)
444 documentaries, interviews, archival footage, and select feature films exploring LGBT history, gay culture and subcultures, civil rights, marriage equality, LGBT families, AIDS, transgender issues, religious perspectives on homosexuality, global comparative experiences, and other topics.

Kanopy Video - LGBTQ Cinema
Kanopy offers around 30 films in LGBTQ Cinema. All videos are streamable for personal, research or classroom use.
Kanopy - LGBTQ Stories
Kanopy offers over 100 LGBTQ documentaires. All videos are streamable for personal, research or classroom use.
Kanopy Video - Gender Studies
Kanopy offers over 400 films in gender studies. All videos are streamable for personal, research or classroom use.
Kanopy Vide - Race & Class Studies
Kanopy offers over 100 films in race and class studies. All videos are streamable for personal, research or classroom use.

Other Resources for Primary and Archival Sources

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 (Alexander Street)
The collection currently includes 122 document projects and archives with 4,900 documents and more than 168,000 pages of additional full-text documents, written by more than 2,600 primary authors. It also includes book, film, and website reviews, notes from the archives, and teaching tools.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries (Alexander Street)
Includes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters. The collection now includes primary materials spanning more than 300 years.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries (Alexander Street)
Includes the immediate experiences of 1,325 women and 150,000 pages of diaries and letters.

Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires since 1820 explores prominent themes in world history since 1820: conquest, colonization, settlement, resistance, and post-coloniality, as told through women’s voices. With a clear focus on bringing the voices of the colonized to the forefront, this highly-curated archive and database includes documents related to the Habsburg Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the British, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, and United States Empires, and settler societies in the United States, New Zealand and Australia.
Women and Social Movements, International - 1840 to Present
Women and Social Movements, International is a landmark collection of primary materials. Through the writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and the proceedings of conferences at which pivotal decisions were made, this collection lets you see how women’s social movements shaped much of the events and attitudes that have defined modern life.
Women's Studies Archive
Global in scope, the archive presents materials covering the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives and offers a look at the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society. A wide range of primary sources provide a close look at some of the pioneers of women's history, a deep dive into the issues that have affected women, and the many contributions they have made to society.

Women's Issues and Identities spans multiple geographic regions, providing a variety of perspectives on women's experiences and cultural impact. Within the archive can be found fascinating historical records from Europe, North and South America, Africa, India, East Asia, and the Pacific Rim with content in English, French, German, and Dutch.

Liaison Librarian for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies

Michael David MILLER

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Subjects: Economics, Feminist studies, International development, LGBTQ studies, Littératures de langue française, Public policy, Québec studies, Translation studies

LGBTQ+ Studies

News from the Rainbow Round Table - American Library Association

Open Access Resources