InfoGuides: LGBTQ+ Studies: Find Primary Sources

What are Primary Sources?

Primary sources are documents, films, magazines, and other items that were created during a given historical time period. You can use them to learn more about LGBTQ+ history, people, and events, as well as contemporary attitudes. We have a wide range of online primary sources; learn more about them here.

Key LGBTQ+ Primary Source Databases

Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Collection of historical primary source publications relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality, gender research and gender studies research. Materials span the sixteenth to twentieth-first centuries. Documentation covering disciplines such as social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) communities around the world are included, as well as rare and unique books on sex and sexuality from the sciences to the humanities.
LGBTQ+ Source This link opens in a new window
Provides broad coverage of the world's LGBTQ literature, for both academic and lifestyle publications. Covers historically significant journals, magazines, and regional newspapers, both mainstream and grey, and hundreds of books and reference works. Topics include sociology, culture, civil liberties, individual lives, family, community, employment, history, politics, psychology, and religion.
Alt-PressWatch This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text articles for over 210 publications of the alternative and independent presses, from 1970 to current.