Connexions Resource Centre:
Focus on Lesbians, Gays, Bi-sexuals
Recent & Selected Articles
This is a small sampling of articles related to gay, lesbian and bisexual issues in the Connexions Online Library. For more articles, books, films, and other resources, check the Connexions Library Subject Index, especially under topics such as
gays,
lesbians,
bisexuality,
and sexuality.
- Connexions Archive seeks a new home (November 18, 2009)
The Connexions Archive, a Toronto-based library dedicated to preserving the history of grassroots movements for social change, needs a new home.
- Mike Rogers: The Man Who Outs Closeted Right-Wing Politicians (September 21, 2009)
Mike Rogers talks about why it's important to report on the secret sex lives of gay conservatives who are in bed with anti-gay forces.
- How Islamist gangs use internet to track, torture and kill Iraqi gays (September 13, 2009)
Iraqi militias infiltrate internet gay chatrooms to hunt their quarry – and hundreds are feared to be victims.
- Coming out in Kenya (August 23, 2009)
Rape has always been used to intimidate assertive women in Kenya, like feminists and female politicians.
- Sex Workers’ Rights in Kenya: "It's Better to Be a Thief Than Gay in Kenya" (August 6, 2009)
"It's better to be a thief than gay in Kenya," says a gay sex worker. Both are often punished by death, but being the latter means never revealing yourself to the public and remaining perpetually closeted. It means dealing with homophobes at day and pleasuring them at night.
- The Hate Crimes Bill: How Not to Remember Matthew Shepard (June 26, 2009)
The problem with the Hate Crimes Prevention Act is that it creates a thought crime and also categories of crime victims for disparate treatment. Goodbye to equality under the law.
- 'The movement is ours!': Lesbian activist critique (December 1, 2008)
We have recently claimed a right to reciprocity in the support of our struggles, but how many in the Queer rights movement have actively worked for the liberation of those groups whose endorsement we demand?
- Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage: What is at Stake? (February 27, 2008)
There are good people on either side of the same-sex marriage debate. Unfortunately, however, it has been one of the most divisive issues in society. Opponents of same-sex marriage perceive the other side as part of a cabal of gay activists and social-engineering judges and politicians, intent on making a mockery of important social values. Proponents of same-sex marriage often perceive the other side as "homophobic" bigots or religious fundamentalists who want to deprive gay or lesbian couples of a right enjoyed by others because they hate homosexuals. The debate over same-sex marriage has divided people who share common values and beliefs on many fundamental questions--war and peace, economic security, democracy versus the increasingly anti-democratic and repressive nature of American society. This divisive debate cripples the ability of ordinary Americans to unite around the things that we agree on.
- Jealousy, Friendship, and Bisexual Chopped Liver (2008)
According to this theory, bisexuals could never, ever have any friends at all. We couldn’t be friends with gay men, straight men, straight women, lesbians. And we definitely couldn’t be friends with other bisexuals. According to this theory, the fact that we’re attracted to both women and men makes us ineligible to be friends with anybody, of any gender, ever.
- Toronto Pride 1981 - setting the historical record queer (2006)
The Pride event in 1981 would not have taken place without the new political and social context created by the massive resistance that took place against the bath raids that year. Thousands of queer men, lesbians and our supporters took to the streets on a number of occasions.
- Marriage and the Capitalist State (2004)
Gays and lesbians ought to have the right to marry — but they shouldn’t have to.
- Pat Califia - A Three Part Interview (2001)
"If you believe that inequities can only be addressed through extreme social change, then you qualify as a sex radical, even if you prefer to get off in the missionary position and still believe there are only two genders."
- Gays and the Left (1997)
The contemporary movement for lesbian/gay liberation was born out of the ferment of the New Left. Its leftist roots were openly acknowledged. Leading theorists identified with one socialist or communist current or another. They acknowledged their debt to Marxism as well as feminism and psychoanalysis. Times have obviously changed. While lesbian/gay movements have grown and won some significant victories in the past quarter-century, the socialist left has shrunk to a shadow of what it was. Unsurprisingly, lesbian/gay spokespeople and theorists are less likely to identify with the anti- capitalist left than they used to be.
- Queer Vows, Pros and Cons (1996)
Equality ain't liberation, honey, but it's important nonetheless. We fight for the right to jobs, as horrible as so many of them are. We should fight for queer marriage, as problematic an institution as it is.
- The First Duty of a Revolutionary is to Survive (September 1, 1995)
Pat Califia observes that the first stage in trying to politicize SM people is to make it possible for people to find each other. Within our own community, we need to educate ourselves about each other: "gay men need to educate themselves about feminism; lesbians need to educate themselves about AIDS and sodomy laws; straight people need to address their homophobia, and everybody needs to address biphobia and transphobia." This kind of interaction doesn't have to mean the loss of separate social spaces, which are appropriate. But it is the truth that we hang together or we hang separately.
- Connexions Annual Overview: Lesbians & Gays (October 1, 1989)
Gays and lesbians have shown that while on one level -- rights, employment, etc. -- sexual orientation doesn't matter, on another level, sexual politics are profoundly important. They do matter, and no movement for change can ignore them.
Selected Websites and Organizations
This is a small sampling of organizations and websites concerned with gay, lesbian adn bisexual issues in the Connexions Directory. For more organizations and websites, check the Connexions Directory Subject Index, especially under topics such as
gays,
lesbians,
bisexuality,
and sexuality.
- Bi.org
International site for bi-sexuals. - BiNet USA
BiNet USA collects and distributes information regarding Bisexuality; facilitates the development of Bisexual community and visibility; works for the equal rights and liberation of Bisexuals and all oppressed peoples; and to eradicate all forms of oppression inside and outside the Bisexual community. - Bisexual Resource Center
Information, discussions, and resources for bi-sexuals. - British Columbia Bisexual Network (BiNet BC)
An umbrella organization providing resources and networking for bi and bi-supportive people and groups in British Columbia. - Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives
A group of volunteers working in Toronto to preserve lesbian and gay history in Canada and beyond. Our primary mandate is to collect and maintain information related to gay and lesbian life in Canada -- though we have lots from elsewhere as well. We gather material on people, organizations, issues and events. - Connexions Library: Women's Issues Focus
Selected articles, books, websites and other resources on women. - Queer Resources Directory (QRD)
Other Links & Resources
Books, Films and Periodicals
This is a small sampling of books related to gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues in the
Connexions Online Library. For more books and other resources, check the Connexions Library
Subject Index, especially under topics such as
gays,
lesbians,
bisexuality,
and sexuality.
- The Early Homosexual Rights Movement (1864-1935)
Author: Lauritsen, John; Thorstad, David
- Flaunting It!
Author: Jackson, Ed, Perksy, Stan
An anthology of articles spanning the first decade of the Canadian gay liberation periodical, The Body Politic.
- Gay Men and the Sexual History of the Political Left
Author: Hekma, Gert; Oosterhuis, Harry; Steakley, James
- Hidden from History
Reclaiming the Gay and Lesbian Past
Author: Duberman, M.B.; Vicinus, M.; George, C. Jr. (eds)
Eessays analyzing the political, philosophical, and social history of homosexuality from the ancient world to the postwar era.
- Lesbians in Canada
Author: Stone, Sharon Dale (ed)
- The No-Nonsense Guide to Sexual Diversity
Author: Baird, Vanesse
An examination of the ways in which tolerance and hostility have manifested themselves throughout history, and in current attitudes toward sexual diversity.
- The Regulation of Desire
Homo and Hetero Sexualities
Author: Kinsman, Gary
A survey of the history of sexuality in Canada.
Learning from our History
Coming soon
Resources for Activists
The Connexions Calendar - An event calendar for activists.
Media Names & Numbers - A comprehensive directory of Canada's print and broadcast media. (CX5857).
Sources - A directory that enables journalists to find spokespersons of organizations. Organizations that list themselves in Sources signficantly increase their odds of getting called by reporters when they are doing a story of their issues..
