The Basics
(kind of)
Words, Words, Words
O Aliagender Demigirl
O Aro-spectrum
O Intergender
Neutrois
Misterie
Ace
O“Trans*”
O Transgender: An umbrella term encompassing a wide variety of
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people who feel that the gender assigned to them at birth is
inaccurate or incomplete.
Transition: The process of changing one’s gender identity and/or
physical embodiment, which may or may not include medical
intervention, wardrobe choices, or a name change. For some the
process has a distinct “end” point, for others it is an ongoing
process of self-discovery and transformation.
Cisgender/Cissexual: Someone who feels that the gender
assigned to them at birth is relatively accurate and complete.
The Greek prefix “cis” literally means “on the same side of,” or
“not trans.”
Male-assigned: When a person’s body is designated “male” at
birth. Is used instead of (and is preferable to) the more common
“biologically male” or “male-born.”
Female-assigned: When a person’s body is designated “female”
at birth. Is used instead of (and is preferable to) the more
common “biologically female” or “female-born.”
O Non-binary gender: An umbrella term encompassing a wide variety
of people who do not feel comfortable identifying entirely or
exclusively as male or female, but rather prefer a fluid identity, a
combination of both, no gender at all, or something else entirely.
Many use the word “genderqueer,” and there are a wide variety of
non-binary pronouns including “they/them/their” and “ze/hir.” Nonbinary people may also choose to transition physically in various
ways.
O Gender non-conforming (GNC): A shorthand used for people who
may or may not identify as trans, but who’s behaviors are typically
considered cross-gender. While no one is completely genderconforming, people generally referred to as GNC tend to be
consistent and comfortable with cross-gender expression, and are
uncomfortable conforming to their typical gender roles. A term
recently in vogue is “gender-independent.”
O Intersex: An umbrella term for a variety of medical conditions that
may result in genitalia that aren’t easily classified, or a hormonal or
genetic makeup typically seen in the “opposite” assigned sex.
Formerly referred to as “hermaphrodites,” that term is considered
both inaccurate and offensive. Some intersex people identify as
trans, and some trans people (arguably erroneously) identify as
intersex.
What If I Don’t Know What To
Say?
O Listen
O Echo
Things To Ask
O It’s sometimes okay to ask a person what
pronoun they use, but not always. Only ask if
you need to know, and it’s not that hard to
avoid pronouns (“this person,” etc.)
O Ask before referring a request to a
colleague.
O Trigger warnings/content notes, or gauge
sensitivity sensitively.
Things To Never Ask
O “What are you” “Are you a boy or a girl” “Are
you trans” etc.
O If a patron asks for the restroom, you can
direct them to both.
Just Part of the Job
O Adults and teenagers already don’t
understand each other.
O You don’t need to understand someone fully
to provide them with services.
O Unique needs of LGBTQ youth are still
important to examine.
O Sensitive service is built into the profession
Privacy
Specific concerns for/of LGBTQ youth
Basic Privacies
O What is included in a patron’s right to
privacy?
O Why might these be of particular importance
to LGBTQ youth?
According to a 2009 survey of 7,000 LGB youth:
O 8 out of 10 reported verbal harassment
O 4 out of 10 reported physical harassment
O 6 out of 10 felt unsafe at school
O 1 out of 5 had been physically assaulted
O All statistics retrieved via
http://www.cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm
LGBT Homeless Youth Provider Survey
conducted from 2011-2012, found:
O 30% of youth in housing programs or receiving
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street outreach identify as LGBT
43% of youth in drop-in centers identify as LGBT
46% ran away from home due to homophobia
43% were forced out of their homes due to
homophobia
32% reported abuse
O Full survey available at
http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wpcontent/uploads/Durso-Gates-LGBT-Homeless-YouthSurvey-July-2012.pdf
Do You Advertise Privacy?
O Bulletin board displays
O Signs at reference and circulation desks
O Teen Advisory Groups
O Patron interactions
O Outreach to schools
Privacy, one-on-one
O “Do you mind if I ask another librarian?”
O Volume of conversation
O Awareness of people who are nearby,
including parents
O Modulate based on the patrons’ affect, of
course.
Readers Advisory &
Reference
Being helpful while also being sensitive!
This is why we became
librarians!
O For LGBTQ teens still figuring things out,
approaching the reference desk for help finding a
resource might be a huge step, so let’s honor that!
O As librarians, we appreciate the need for
uncensored access to information, and creating a
safe environment for patrons to ask for help
searching is part of that
Respect privacy
O Disrespecting privacy during LGBTQ teen reference/RA
interactions risks:
O Losing that patron (in the least)
O Outing that patron and subjecting them to violence, housing
issues, bullying, etc.
O Do your best to read the user’s comfort level--if they are
whispering, you may want to:
O Use vague language (i.e. “that subject”)
O Lead them to the section in the stacks where the books will be
found so that you can pull/show books
O Write book titles down
O Speak softly
O Obviously if a reader seems more comfortable with the subject,
you can be a little more open, but always exercise discretion
regardless
Show LGBTQ users that you are
friendly—but not too friendly!
O Identifying yourself as an LGBTQ-friendly adult may help
kids feel safe coming to you
O If a user asks you an LGBTQ-related reference of RA
question, do your best to send them home with something
useful
O Know your collection—this is the best way to prepare for an
LGBTQ-related RA or reference question—especially if you
don’t have the book they ask for but have other
O Don’t go overboard though—it is one thing to express that
you are knowledgeable about the subject area, and quite
another to make a user feel singled out or in the spotlight.
Know the collection
O Be familiar with the range of LGBTQ teenO
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appropriate titles in your collection.
Be prepared to recommend both fiction and nonfiction, as well as materials in the adult collection.
Internet resources—these are so important to LGBTQ
teens, as there is a lot more available on the
Internet than in print
Be aware that there are some instances in which a
combination of fiction, non-fiction, and electronic
resources might be appropriate for the same
RA/reference question
Trigger warnings as part of sensitive RA
Roleplay!
Collection Development
Locating, Evaluating, and
Integrating LGBTQ-related
materials
Locating materials
O Professional sources
Such as SLJ, Kirkus, Novelist, professional
events, GLBT Roundtable of ALA (Rainbow
Booklist, etc.)
O Crowd sources
O Cross-reference professional resources with
user-driven resources eg GoodReads,
Tumblr, blogs.
Evaluation
How do you evaluate titles?
O What are your criteria?
O Literary merit?
O Treatment of trans protagonists or
characters?
O Authority?
O Evaluate not for censoring purposes, but it’s
important for providing helpful readers
advisory.
O Who else likes this book?
Challenged materials
O Do you have a challenged materials form?
O Do you know your library’s stance on LGBT
materials, and how a challenge would be
handled?
O Resources include ALA’s Office of
Intellectual Freedom, National Coalition
Against Censorship, and the PEN
Foundation
Organizing your
Collection
Make books easy to find!
O While you should always be available for LGBTQ-
friendly reference/RA, privacy concerns make it
important that materials are easy for teens to
find on their own
O Two different ideas for making books to find are:
O Creating an LGBTQ “neighborhood” in your teen
collection
O Using DemCo stickers to label the back of the
spine of LGBTQ books within the collection
O There are benefits and drawbacks to both of
these approaches
Promoting your collection
O Create LGBTQ themed book displays—definitely
in June for Pride month, but try making them for
other events such as Trans Day of
Remembrance, National Coming Out Day, World
AIDS Day, etc.
O Create outreach materials such as bookmarks to
promote LGBTQ collections
O You might go around and slip the bookmark into
the pages of LGBTQ books on the shelves so
readers who find one book can find the whole
collection
Privacy
O As with other topics, privacy is always an
issue with making your collection more
visible.
O You may want to survey teens about their
preference for displaying your collection.
O If you use DemCo stickers, you may want to
have copies of the same book without the
DemCo sticker or to use a sticker that
doesn’t scream “gay” once the book leaves
the library
The Internet
Internet is sometimes the
BEST resource
O Social networking as community
O Constantly changing information
Internet Safety
O Parent concerns
O Teen safety
O Meeting friends from the Internet
List of Internet Resources
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Scarleteen—comprehensive, non-judgmental, harm-reduction based sex ed resource
http://www.scarleteen.com/
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Tumblr: Tumblr is an excellent platform for LGBTQ teens to build an online social network
while exploring identities and ideas. Users share/reblog each other’s content, which makes
it a great site for users who want to build community while remaining anonymous
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TrevorSpace: A monitored social networking site for LGBTQ teens
https://www.trevorspace.org/
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Suicide, mental health, homelessness resources:
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The Trevor Project http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
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It Gets Better Project: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/
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National Runaway Safeline http://www.1800runaway.org/
Resources for LGBTQ students
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GLSEN http://www.glsen.org/
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GSA Network http://www.gsanetwork.org/
PFLAG: Parents, Friends & Family of Lesbians and Gays http://www.pflag.org/
Programming:
LGBT-specific programming
What is “general”
programming?
O What kinds of programs to you host?
O Are there programs geared towards specific
audiences?
O How do you state that without being
exclusionary? Or are you exclusionary?
Making programs safer spaces
for LGBT youth
O Guidelines, including confidentiality, respect,
protocol for accountability, optional pronoun
preferences
O Outreach to gay-straight alliances, college
resources centers, support groups, shelters
and housing programs
Some programming ideas
O If there aren’t GSAs at local high schools,
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the library could host one
Bring in presenters to educate around safer
sex, bullying, mental health, etc.
Parties, dances, celebrations
Books clubs, including mock Stonewall Prize
club
Author events
Timely displays and program
opportunities
O June is Pride Month
O October is Queer Awareness Month,
including National Coming Out Day
O National Day of Silence in April
O December 1st is World AIDS Day
O Or highlight LGBT contributions to the civil
rights movement (eg Bayard Rustin)
women’s history, literally anything else.
All pictures courtesy of Ingrid Van Opel at
magpielibrarian.wordpress.com, via Tumblr
Programming:
General programming:
LGBTQ-friendly programing geared toward
a general audience
Incorporating LGBTQ themes
into general teen programing
O Although LGBTQ-specific programming is
important, many LGBTQ teen programming
needs overlap with those of a more general teen
audience
O If you are having trouble building a large enough
audience for LGBTQ-specific programming,
creating programming that address LGBTQ
needs but are geared toward a general audience
is a way of still creating those programs
O You may try incorporating multiple outreach
strategies for one program to market to different
audiences.
LGBTQ-Friendly General
Programming Ideas
O Internet and social-networking workshops
O Social networking workshops to focus on both fun + safety
O Emphasizing Internet safety may make parents of LGBTQ teens
more comfortable letting their kids explore the Internet
O Book clubs
O Select LGBTQ-themed books for discussion in your book clubs
O Authors & performers
O Bring in LGBTQ presenters
O Even if the presenter is talking about something non-LGBTQ
related, many teens will feel inspired by just connecting with a
talented or successful LGBTQ adult
LGBTQ-Friendly General
Programming Ideas (cont.)
O Anime clubs
O A lot of anime & manga is advanced in LGBTQ inclusion,
and your library may already have an anime club
O Take extra measures to make your anime club an explicitly
LGBTQ-friendly space
O When selecting meeting themes, periodically choose
LGBTQ-related themes
O Diversity
O Have broader diversity-related trainings and workshops
O Create a library culture in which talking about
diversity/oppression is part of all programs