Sorting the Alphabet Soup of Sexual Orientation and IdentityDefinitions ~ Find resources in the catalog ~ Find resources on the shelf ~ Online Resources ~ Databases
Definitions
"L"
lesbian, dyke, gay woman, homosexual woman
Woman whose primary emotional and physical attractions are for
other women.
"G" gay, homosexual, fag, faggot
Man whose primary emotional and physical attractions are for other
men.
"B"
bisexual, AC/DC
Man or woman with strong emotional and physical attractions to
both men and women.
"T"
transsexual, transgender, trans, ftm, mtf, transvestite, cross
dresser, drag queen
But what do these mean? There is no single accepted definition.
The Social Work/Psychology fields treat Transgender and Transsexual as two separate issues. Transgender describes people who are not comfortable with the gender expression which their culture has assigned to them. (i.e. they are not comfortable or can't relate to the roles, clothes, or behaviors that are expected in someone of their sex.) Transsexual describes someone who is not comfortable in their body and feels that they were born into a body of the wrong sex.
Many popular works use Transgender as a continuum that goes from "mild" (cross-dressing) to "severe" (changing the body by surgery or hormones)
The Library of Congress does not distinguish between Transsexual and Transgender and uses Transsexual to cover both.
Other terms
"I"
Intersexed, hermaphrodites
People born with some physical aspects of both sexes.
"Q"
Queer, questioning
Any/all of the above
and, of course "H"
Heterosexuals, hets, straight, breeders
People whose primary emotional and physical attractions are for
people of the opposite sex.
Find
resources in the catalog
Search the catalog using the following subject headings.
Issue |
People |
|
Sexual Orientation |
Sexual
orientation Homosexuality – Religious aspects – Judaism Lesbianism – Religious aspects – Judaism Homosexuality, male – Religious aspects – Judaism Bisexuality – Religious aspects Heterosexuality Homosexuality in the Bible |
Gays |
Sexual Identity |
Gender
identity |
Transsexuals Female-to-male transsexuals Transvestites |
Find
resources on the shelf
- Judaism. Special topics. Homosexuality/Gays/Lesbians
- BM 729 H6.5
- Bible. Topics. Homosexuality
- BS 680 H6.7
- Bisexuality
- HQ 74 - 74.2.
- Homosexuality including Lesbianism
- HQ 75 - 76.95
- Transvestism
- HQ 76.97 - 77.2
- Transsexualism
- HQ 77.7 - 77.95.
- Same-sex marriage
- HQ 1033 - 1034
Online
Resources
Jewish
Virtual Resources Center (VRC)
A project of the Institute for Judaism and Sexual Orientation
(an initiative of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute
of Religion - the Virtual Resource Center requires free registration)
http://elearning.huc.edu/jhvrc/
Jewish Mosaic
The National Jewish Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
http://www.jewishmosaic.org/
World Congress of Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual and Transgender Jews, Keshet Ga'ava
http://www.glbtjews.org/
GayJews.org
http://members.tripod.com/~djs28/
General
PFLAG (Parents, families,
friends of lesbians and gays)
http://www.pflag.org
PFLAG Transgender network
http://community.pflag.org/Page.aspx?pid=380
Same-Sex Marriage : a selective
bibliography of the legal literature
http://law-library.rutgers.edu/SSM.html
People with a History : An
Online Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans* History
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/
While the Library thinks that these sites are useful, their content is not under our control and may express views that are not shared by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Searching Jewish
Databases
RAMBI
subject = Homosexuality
use keyword searches for: transsexual, transgender, hermaphrodites
Index to Jewish Periodicals
subject = Homosexuality ; Lesbians
use title keyword searches for: transsexual, transgender, hermaphrodites
If you have any further questions about finding information on this, or any other topic, ask your local HUC-JIR librarian or email us using the form on a campus library homepage.