The Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History provides a global view of the history of LGBTQ, covering significant figures and events worldwide. Wide-ranging in scope, this encyclopedia complements courses in a variety of disciplines, including history, American studies, literature, psychology, sociology and others.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• List of Contributors
• Thematic Outline
• A
• ACT UP The founding, achievements, international impact, and demise of this important AIDS activist group. Sidebar: ACT UP in Europe
• Activism in Africa South of the Sahara The history and current state of LGBTQI activism in Africa, including challenges and victories.
• Adoption and Surrogacy in Europe The availability and legal rights surrounding the issues of adoption and surrogacy for European LGBT persons.
• Adoption, Fostering, and Surrogacy (International) The legal and social challenges LGBTQ adults face to access intercountry adoption and surrogacy, as well as challenges LGBTQ youth face when rejected from their families.
• Aestheticism and Decadence, Nineteenth-Century The important figures and works of these interrelated cultural movements that explored queer and erotic themes around the end of the nineteenth century.
• African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights The role of this human rights organization in advocating for LGBTQ individuals in Africa. Sidebar: The Commission Condemns Violence and Discrimination against LGBTQ Persons
• Afropop Music A type of popular music on the African continent, and the ways LGBT artists are using it both to resist social oppression and promote tolerance.
• AIDS Memorial Quilt—The NAMES Project The development and cultural impact of this famous memorial to those who have died from AIDS.
• Al-Akharun (2006; Seba al-Herz) Saudi Arabian novel narrated by a disabled Shiʿa woman struggling to reconcile her religious faith with her nonnormative sexual identity.
• alQaws Palestinian organization that promotes queer acceptance combined with advocacy against Israeli pinkwashing.
• Amer, Ghada (1963)– Egyptian artist whose work challenges conventional representations of women, particularly in its depictions of same-sex desire.
• AnāHiya Anti (2000; Elham Mansour) One of the first novels published in the Middle East to represent lesbianism in a way that is not heteronormative.
• Antes que Anochezca (1992; Reinaldo Arenas) Autobiography of Cuban exile and one of Latin America's most original voices that details the author's life as a political and sexual dissident.
• Anthropology in Africa South of the Sahara Historical and contemporary anthropological perspectives on nonnormative sexualities in Africa. Sidebar: E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973)
• Anti-Gender Movement in Europe Conservative campaigns against so-called “gender ideology” or “gender theory.”
• Anti-Racist Activism in Europe The intersection between anti-racism and LGBT activism throughout the continent.
• Anti-Semitism and Zionism The relationship between anti-Semitism and largely male homosexuality in Europe and its influence on Zionism and the State of Israel.
• Anti-Semitism in Europe Jews and homosexuals as cultural “others” in Europe.
• Antisodomy and Buggery Trials The legal prosecution of same-sex sexual activity, mostly between men, throughout history.
• Archives in Africa The challenges of archival research on nonnormative sexualities in Africa.
• Archives in Asia What legal records, religious sources, scientific texts, and other archival material reveal about nonnormative genders and sexualities in Asia.
• Archives in Australia and New Zealand Description and management of LGBTQI archives in Australia and New Zealand.
• Archives in Europe The history of gay and lesbian archives in western and eastern Europe.
• Archives in Latin America The major archives containing LGBT materials in various Central and South American countries, including the challenges of researching this topic in this region.
• Archives in North America The history of the development of community-and university-based LGBTQ archives in the United States and Canada.
• Argentina’s Gender Identity Law A groundbreaking law allowing transgender people the right to officially change their gender identity without third-party intervention.
• The Art of Identity in India The expression of queer identity in contemporary Indian art in a society that criminalized same-sex sexual expression.
• The Art of Queering Asian Mythology An examination of LGBTQ-themed artwork through the lens of Asian mythology. Sidebar: Sunil Gupta (1953–)
• Asexuality The range of definitions that can apply to this sexual identity from the perspective of asexual communities, scientific research, and queer and feminist theory.
• Asia Pacific Transgender Network Coordinating body for organizations serving trans individuals in the Asia Pacific region.
• Asrar ʿAiliyyah (2013; Hany Fawzy) The first Egyptian film to focus primarily on homosexuality.
• Aswat A Palestinian nongovernmental organization for women with nonnormative sexualities, with a focus on the group's publications Haqi an aʿeesh an akhtar an akun (2007) and Waqfet banāt (2010).
• Athletes, Trans and Intersex Examples of trans and intersex athletes through history, and the obstacles to competition they have experienced.
• Athletes, Trans and Intersex, in Asia The complexities of sex segregation, testing, and verification in sports, including the cases of noteworthy Asian trans and intersex athletes. Sidebar: Pinki Pramanik (1986–)
• Australia and New Zealand The history of the struggle for Australasian LGBTI rights, as well as the increased political and cultural impact of this community from the late twentieth century onward.
• ʿAwdat al-Almani ilā Rushdih (2006; Rashid al-Daif) Representations of homosexuality and the narrator's struggles with shifting notions of gender and sexuality in this novelized biography.
• B
• El Baile de los 41 A 1901 scandal in which a raid of a party in Mexico City revealed cross-dressing men in attendance, and its subsequent impact on Mexican culture.
• Bakla A term used in the Philippines for an effeminate man or a homosexual.
• Barbin, Herculine (1838–1868) One of the most famous hermaphrodites of the nineteenth century, and the scholarly debate inspired by her life.
• Bareed Mista3jil: True Stories (2009) A collection of autobiographical narratives written by Lebanese lesbians and one trans man.
• Bars and Cabarets in Europe The development of drinking establishments throughout Europe that specifically serve gay and lesbian customers. Sidebar: Eldorado
• Bars, Working-Class, in Mexico Notable establishments in various Mexican cities where classes mix in a sexually diverse environment.
• Bathhouse Raids, Toronto (1981) Police crackdown on Toronto's gay bathhouses and the ensuing mobilization of LGBTQ activism in response.
• Bayrūt ’75 (1975; Ghāda al-Sammān) Arabic novel in which homosexuality is depicted as a by-product of national violence and class inequity.
• BDSM (Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism) The LGBTQ expression of these alternative sexual practices.
• Benga, François “Féral” (1906–1957) Senegalese cabaret dancer whose sensuality was perceived as a symbol of homoeroticism in both Paris and the United States in the 1930s.
• El Beso de la Mujer Araña (1976; Manuel Puig) Argentine novel that upends normative storytelling and normative sexuality while giving marginal subjectivities a voice.
• Bhutan The status of the LGBT community in Bhutan. Sidebar: Lhak-Sam, Bhutan's Network for HIV-Positive People
• Biological Essentialism The assumption that human behavior is caused by an immutable biological trait despite evidence of sociocultural factors, discussed here as it relates to sexual orientation.
• Black Freedom Movement and Sexuality LGBTQ participation in the movement to secure human rights for African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s.
• Blackmail The use of blackmail by and against those engaging in same-sex acts from the fourteenth century to contemporary times.
• The Body Politic Groundbreaking Canadian gay liberation magazine published between 1971 and 1987.
• Bom-Crioulo (1895; Adolfo Ferreira Caminha) A naturalist novel dealing with race, homosexuality, and crime in Rio de Janeiro.
• Bookstores The history of LGBTQ+-themed bookstores, including their unique role as activist centers and community spaces. Sidebar: Gay's the Word Bookshop
• Boston Marriage and Women's Romantic Friendships Long-term, financially independent relationships between women in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• Botswana A historical and contemporary look at LGBTQ issues in this southern African nation.
• Boys Love (Yaoi) Manga A media genre that originated in Japan depicting male-male romantic and sexual relationships, initially created by females for a female audience.
• Brokeback Mountain The 1997 short story and 2005 movie adaptation about a homosexual relationship between two ranch hands in Wyoming.
• The Bubble (2006; Eytan Fox) Israeli film portraying a complex romantic relationship between an Israeli man and a Palestinian man in Tel Aviv.
• Butt Magazine A post-pornographic fanzine for gay hipsters.
• C
• Cabaret Theater in Latin America and the Caribbean The use of cabaret as political statement by Latin American and Caribbean LGBT artists. Sidebar: Jesusa Rodríguez (1955–)
• Cabo Verde The status of the LGBT community, both historically and into modern times, on this island nation off the west coast of Africa.
• Cameroon The current state of the LGBTQ population in this Central African nation, including the influence of religion, politics, and activism.
• Camp An elusive term, often used to describe a particular mode of behavior or way of being in the gay community that is associated with flamboyancy, affectation, vulgarity, and effeminacy.
• Canadian Criminal Code Reform (1969) Changes to Canada's criminal code in 1969 that included the partial decriminalization of certain homosexual acts.
• Cape Town The South African port city known as the Gay Capital of Africa.
• Carnival and Sexuality in Brazil The intersections and contradictions of Carnival and queer expression.
• Cavafy, C. P. (1863–1933) Greek poet whose homoerotic works made him a queer icon.
• Central American Solidarity Movement LGBTQ participation in this transnational movement that was active from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. Sidebar: Victoria Mercado Brigade
• Chechnya, Detention Camps in The imprisonment of men in the Russian republic of Chechnya for alleged homosexuality.
• Chevalier d’Éon or Mademoiselle Beaumont (1728–1810) The colorful life of the famous eighteenth-century French cross-dresser.
• Christianity in Africa: Anglican The position of the Anglican Communion in Africa on sexual minorities.
• Christianity in Africa: LGBT Friendly Christian churches and ministries in Africa that specifically cater to the LGBT community. Sidebar: Desmond Tutu (1931–)
• Christianity in Africa: Pentecostal and Charismatic The impact of these influential religious expressions on LGBTQ issues in Africa.
• Christianity in Africa: Roman Catholicism The position of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa on sexual minorities.
• Cinema, African (Anglophone) Representations of same-sex desire in English-language films made in Africa or by directors of African descent. Sidebar: Nollywood Sidebar: Rafiki (2018; Wanuri Kahiu)
• Cinema, African (Francophone) LGBT representation in French-language African films. Sidebar: Karmen Geï (2001; Joseph Gaï Ramaka)
• Cinema, Latin American (Early Twentieth Century) The influence of the Latin American film industry and film spectatorship on identity formation through the mid-twentieth century.
• Cinema, Latin American (Late Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries) Six films from the late twentieth century and twenty-first century that illustrate the trajectory of LGBTQ themes and characters in Latin American cinema.
• Cisgender or Cis A term used to describe people whose gender identity is congruent with the sex/gender assigned to them at birth, or non-transgender.
• Classical Studies The ways in which scholars from the Middle Ages to modern times used examples from Greek and Roman antiquity to advance the study of queer desire.
• Clitoris The medical and cultural view of this female sexual organ, its role in sexual pleasure, the ways it can be modified, and its relation to intersex and trans bodies.
• The Closet The development of the concept of this term for homosexuals who have not publicly identified with their sexuality and its application in various cultures.
• Cold War and Sexuality in Latin America The methods by which both leftist and rightist governments in Latin American countries addressed the perceived threat posed by nonnormative sexualities during this era of heightened geopolitical tension.
• Colonialism in Africa South of the Sahara The impact of colonialism on the development of laws and cultural attitudes toward same-sex practices in Africa.
• Combahee River Collective Black lesbian feminist organization formed in Boston in 1974.
• Coming-Out/Coming-In Discourses in the Middle East The Western pride narrative and its alternative for Middle Eastern LGBT individuals.
• Comité d’Urgence Anti-répression Homosexuelle (CUARH) An umbrella activist organization of gay and lesbian groups operating in France between 1979 and 1986.
• Communism and Queers in Europe The treatment of LGBTQ individuals under European leftist regimes from the late nineteenth century through the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
• Compton’s Cafeteria Riot (1966) The first collective protest action by transgender people to lead to structural change in the ability of trans people to interact with law and society.
• Confessional Manuals in Colonial Latin America Confessional manuals as religious guides used by priests to teach indigenous peoples the meaning of “sin” in relation to bodily desires and lustful thoughts.
• Conquest and Sodomy in Latin America The Spaniards' use of the charge of sodomy against the indigenous populations of the New World as justification for conquest.
• Conversion Therapy in China The use of medical, psychological, and psychiatric treatment to “convert” LGBTQ individuals to heterosexuals in China.
• Côte d'Ivoire A historical and contemporary look at sexual and gender minorities in this West African nation. Sidebar: Woubi Chéri (1998; Philip Brooks, Laurent Bocahut)
• Cross-Dressing in the West European and American scholarly discourse on cross-dressing from the late nineteenth century to contemporary times.
• Cruising and Cruising Grounds A historical and contemporary look at the spaces and behaviors that facilitate clandestine public sexual encounters in gay and lesbian culture.
• The Cuban Revolution and Homosexuality The Castro regime's policy toward and treatment of homosexuals. Sidebar: Sexilio and Migration Sidebar: Fresa y Chocolate (1993; Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío)
• D
• Darnell v. Lloyd (1975) The first federal court decision in favor of a constitutional claim to a birth certificate sex-designation change in the absence of a statute contemplating such changes.
• Daughters of Bilitis The first women's organization in the United States to directly address issues of female samesex sexuality and gender.
• Defense of Marriage Act (1996) The passing and overturning of the US federal law essentially banning same-sex marriage.
• Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) The history of the classification of nonnormative sexual behaviors and identities in the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
• Diasporas, Queer Ways of critically thinking about the queer diaspora and how it is unique from other types of diasporas.
• Digital Cultures in Latin America The Latin American LGBTQ community's use of the internet and digital tools to create community, promote dialogue, and advocate for LGBTQ rights. Sidebar: Walter Mercado: Queer Digital Icon
• Dissidence in Singapore The ways in which queer activists navigate the authoritarian laws of the city-state of Singapore, particularly through performance art. Sidebar: Hong Lim Park: A Center of LGBT Dissidence
• Al-Dizil (1994; Thani al-Suwaidi) A transgender Arabic novella.
• Drag, Asian The various forms of Asian drag, their reception in Asia and elsewhere, and their cultural impact. Sidebar: Asifa Lahore
• Dyketactics! Radical activist organization of lesbians of all colors, active in Philadelphia in the 1970s.
• E
• Ecology and Environmental Issues and Activism The intersection between LGBTQ and environmental activism.
• Egymásra Nézve (1982; Károly Makk) The first and only movie made in communist east-central Europe to deal centrally with the topic of lesbianism.
• Einayim Pkuhot (2009; Haim Tabakman) Israeli film depicting a homosexual relationship within the ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jewish community.
• Elbe, Lili (1882–1931) One of the first people to undergo surgical sexual transition, in 1930 and 1931, and how this example complicates assumptions about the concept of “transgender.”
• Erauso, Catalina de (1592–1650) A noblewoman who escaped life in a Spanish convent to live as a man and a soldier in the New World during the sixteenth century, popularly known as La Monja Alférez (The Lieutenant Nun).
• Ethiopia The history and current status of the LGBTI community in this East African nation.
• Ethnopornography An interpretation of indigenous intimate activities in which such activities are framed according to Western sexual categories.
• Ethnopsychiatry The systemic psychological study of “non-Western” peoples, particularly as it relates to Africans and homosexuality. Sidebar: Frantz Fanon (1925–1961)
• Eunuchs The role of the castrated male in various cultures throughout history.
• Eurovision Song Contest The popularity of this Europe-based, international singing competition and its unofficial status as a queer institution.
• F
• Family Law in Asia The legacy of colonialism on laws governing marriage, property, and families in Asian countries, and its impact on Asian LGBTQ individuals.
• Female Husband Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century term used to refer to an individual assigned female at birth who posed as a husband to a woman.
• Feminism, African The ways African feminists have intersected with queer theory and activism.
• Femmes and Butches An identification of lesbian use of masculinity (butch) and femininity (femme) to shape sexual desire, gender identity, and community.
• Film Festivals A historical and contemporary look at festivals devoted to LGBTQ-themed films. Sidebar: Frameline: The World's First LGBTQ Film Festival Sidebar: BFI Flare: London's First LGBTQ Film Festival
• Fin de Siècle Sexuality A positivist approach to the study of sexuality in Latin America in the fin de siècle period (c. 1880–1920) in which practices determined to be deviant were subject to reform in the name of national progress. Sidebar: Invertido and Pederasta
• Fire (1996; Deepa Mehta) The first mainstream film in India to portray homosexual love.
• Florentine Codex and Nahua Sexuality What can and cannot be known of Nahua sexuality in central Mexico around the time of the Spanish conquest, particularly through the Florentine Codex compiled by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún.
• Fortune and Men’s Eyes The 1967 play and 1971 film adaptation that highlighted both the injustice of Canada's prison system and its treatment of homosexuals.
• Foucault, Influence of The role of the influential French thinker Michel Foucault in the development of queer history.
• Frente de Liberación Homosexual The first organization of gay men in Argentina, active from 1971 to 1976.
• Friendship Societies in Europe Social clubs for gay men and lesbians that proliferated in Europe during the first half of the twentieth century.
• FTMInternational The largest and oldest organization serving female-to-male transgender communities and their allies, established in 1986. Sidebar: Lou Sullivan (1951–1991)
• G
• Gangs and Street Kids in Africa The emergence and practices of homosexual gangs and street-connected cultures, as well as their relationship with new forms of homophobia and/or occult beliefs.
• Gay European Tourism Association An organization designed to help European businesses promote LGBTQ-friendly travel. The Gay International and Mideast
• LGBTQI Organizations The critique by Columbia University professor Joseph A. Massad of LGBTQI rights organizations in the Middle East as agents of Western organizations in support of a greater colonialist strategy.
• Gay Latino Alliance (GALA) The first prominent gay Latino organization in the United States, active between 1975 and 1983.
• Gay Liberation Front An international network of gay rights organizations active in the 1970s, which represented a shift to a more militant approach.
• Gender, Flexible Systems, in Africa Expressions of gender fluidity in traditional African cultures and how the imposition of binary Western gender categories has affected modern African attitudes toward LGBTQ persons. Sidebar: Njinga (r. 1624–1663)
• Gendered Violence and Feminicide in Latin America The cultural, social, and economic forces behind violence against women in Latin America, including trans women.
• Gentrification in Europe The impact of gentrification on queer communities, focusing on the examples of the Punavuori and Kallio districts in Helsinki, Finland.
• Ghana The history and current status of sexual minorities in this West African country.
• Ghilman A term for a type of male slave or servant during the era of Islamic caliphates, sometimes depicted as the homosexual “beloved” in classical Arabic literature.
• Graffiti and Graphic Art The history and current use of these artistic media in queer public expressions.
• Groupe du 6 Novembre: Lesbiennes Issues du Colonialisme, de l'Esclavage et de l'Immigration The first heterogeneous autonomous selfdeclared lesbian of color group in contemporary France, founded in 1999.
• Grupo de Trabalho Homossexual and LES Two prominent LGBTQ advocacy organizations in Portugal.
• Grupo Gay da Bahia Brazilian organization for LGBTTQI activism.
• H
• Hajar al-Dahik (1990; Hoda Barakat) One of the first novels in Arabic to have a gay protagonist.
• Halat Shaghaf (1998; Nihad Sirees) A Syrian novel that includes the story of a collective of women who offer an alternative to normative heterosexuality during the 1930s in Aleppo.
• Harlem Renaissance The queer side of the social and cultural movement centered in the black neighborhood of Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s.
• Hate Crime Law and Policy in the United States The development of US laws against crimes that target persons because of their particular status group, with a focus on legislation protecting LGBTQ persons.
• Helem The first official LGBTQ+ rights organization in the Middle East.
• Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library Description of the online archive of videos documenting the artistic expression of social and political life in the Americas, with a particular focus on its queer content.
• Hena Maysara (2007; Khaled Youssef) Egyptian film that shocked many with its depiction of a lesbian encounter.
• Higher Education and LGBTQ+ Communities in the United States The relationship between US institutions of higher learning and their LGBTQ+ students and staff, both historically and in the twenty-first century.
• Hijras A fluid term used on the Indian subcontinent to reference iconic figures of sexual and gendered difference.
• Historical Sexes Counting the sexes and the invention of gender in history.
• HIV/AIDS Myths and conspiracy theories about the origin of AIDS, as well as efforts to raise awareness.
• HIV/AIDS in Africa The status of HIV/AIDS prevention strategies and activism in Africa as they relate to LGBTQ communities, with a particular focus on South Africa, Malawi, and Uganda. Sidebar: Most-at-Risk Populations (MARPs) Sidebar: Zackie Achmat and the Treatment Action Campaign
• HIV/AIDS in Egyptian Cinema The various ways in which Egyptian film has dealt with the topic of HIV/AIDS and how these reflect Middle Eastern cultural views of the disease.
• HIV/AIDS in Europe The responses to the AIDS epidemic and the impact of gay activism in various European communities.
• HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean The social and government response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in this region, including the close relationship between AIDS-related activism and LGBT activism. Sidebar: Herbert Daniel (1946–1992): Brazilian AIDS Activist
• HIV/AIDS in South and Southeast Asia The interplay of national governments, HIVmanagement programs/NGOs, and at-risk populations in South and Southeast Asia.
• HIV/AIDS in the United States The history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, its impact on the American LGBTQ community, and activist response.
• Homoerotic Poetry of Abū Nuwās Homoerotic works by the ninth-century Arabic poet.
• Homoeroticism in the Plays of Ibn Daniyal Three farces by the thirteenth-century Egyptian court poet generally recognized as the first major writer in Arab culture to create works centrally concerned with homoerotic themes.
• Homonationalism in Africa A particular form of gay advocacy that frames gay rights in nationalistic terms that privilege American and European expressions over those of the Middle East and the Global South, particularly Africa.
• Homosexual Acts in Shariʿa Perspectives on same-sex sexual activity in Islamic sacred texts.
• Human Rights The struggle for recognition of LGBTQ rights from a transnational perspective.
• Human Rights and Activism in Latin America The geopolitical context that defines the relationship between LGBT activism and human rights in Latin America in the twentieth century.
• Human Rights and Queer Arab Refugees The challenges queer Arab refugees face post–Arab Spring.
• Human Rights Campaign The largest LGBTQ organization in the United States as of 2017.
• Human Rights in Asia The history and current state of LGBTQ rights in South Asia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
• Human Rights in Europe Important cases decided by the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice related to LGBTQ issues. Sidebar: The European Parliament Sidebar: The Holocaust and LGBT Victims I
• I
• I Luv U But (2012–2014; Fadia Abboud) Australian web TV series showing how culture, family, and honor affect gays and lesbians in religious families in the Arab diaspora.
• Imarat Yaʿkubian (2002; Alaa al-Aswany) Egyptian novel that features a gay character.
• Imperialism and Colonialism The regulation and expression of same-sex sexual dynamics, particularly in terms of the effects of Western imperialism during the nineteenth century.
• Inquisition, Criminal Courts, and Sexuality in Colonial Latin America The role the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions played in defining and policing sexuality in the New World, particularly with regard to same-sex acts and desires.
• Institut für Sexualwissenschaft Pioneering institute for sexual research founded by the famous German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld.
• Internet in Africa The role of websites and social media in the lives of African LGBTQ individuals.
• Internet Queer Sites in the Middle East Descriptions of various current and defunct websites and blogs dealing with LGBTQI issues in the Middle East. Sidebar: Excerpt fro A Gay Girl in Damascus Blogm
• Intersex Identities An umbrella term to describe those whose anatomical, chromosomal, and hormonal deviations result in sex-atypical development.
• Involuntary Servitude and Same-Sex Sexuality in Africa Examples of same-sex sexual practices in involuntary servitude in African history.
• ISIS Gay Trials The atrocities committed against gay men by those affiliated with the jihadist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
• Iskandariyya … Leh? (1979; Youssef Chahine) Egyptian movie that includes a subplot of a same-sex encounter between an Egyptian and a British soldier.
• Islam in Africa South of the Sahara The status of those with nonnormative sexual identities in African Muslim communities.
• J
• Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) LGBT advocacy organization based in Jamaica.
• Jannāt wa-Iblīs (1992; Nawal El Saadawi) Depiction of lesbianism and female subversive-ness in this modern Arabic novel.
• Jotería Studies An academic field evolving at the intersection of Chicanx, Latinx, queer of color, and transgender studies.
• K
• Kathoey A complex Thai term most commonly used to refer to male-bodied individuals who express a feminine gender and seek relations with heterosexually identified male partners.
• Kenya A historical and contemporary look at LGBTQ issues in this East African nation.
• Khookha McQueer (1987–) Tunisian genderqueer digital artist and performer.
• Kinsey Scale A metric for describing the spectrum of human sexuality across a seven-point scale, developed by sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey in 1940.
• Kinship in Europe Family models used by LGBTQI persons in Europe.
• L
• Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund The first organization in the United States established to protect and advance the civil rights of LGBT and HIV-positive persons.
• Language The use and study of specialized terminology by LGBTQ+ communities throughout the world. Sidebar: Moffie
• Language in Africa Terms used to describe nonnormative sexualities in Africa, which are complicated by Western hegemony. Sidebar: Hungochani Sidebar: Kuchu
• Language in Europe The development and use of queer-specific words and phrases by the LGBTQ communities of Europe.
• Language in Latin America Stigmatized terms for nonnormative gender and sexual identities in Latin America, and how the LGBTQ community is resignifying them.
• Lavender Menace An informal lesbian feminist collective formed in New York City in 1969 to advocate for lesbians within the women's liberation movement.
• Lavender Scare A Cold War campaign targeting gay people in the US government for reasons of national security that paralleled the anti-Communist campaign known as the Second Red Scare.
• Lesbanese (2008; Alissar Gazal) Short documentary spotlighting the struggle of the women of Lebanon and their burgeoning sexual identities. Lesbian Feminist Encuentros of Latin
• America and the Caribbean The development and early years of lesbian feminist organizing in Latin America via encuentros, or conferences, starting in 1987.
• Lesbian Herstory Archives The oldest, largest historical collection of lesbian material in the world.
• Lesbian Lands, Women's Lands, and Separatist Communes The development of communities by and for the exclusive use of women for the exploration of sexual identity and feminist politics in the United States.
• Lesbian Mothering and Adoption in Latin America The status of lesbian-headed families in Latin America against the backdrop of the greater LGBTQI movement in the region.
• The Lesbian Music Movement The development, heyday, and decline of a grassroots movement to create and showcase music made by lesbian artists for women-only audiences.
• Literary Discourses in the Ottoman Middle East (1500–1900) Homosexual elements in the literature of this Islamic empire.
• Literature, African (Anglophone) English-language African literature that features gender variance and same-sex sexuality. Sidebar: No Past, No Present, No Future (1973; Yulisa Amadu Maddy) Sidebar: One Day I Will Write about This Place (2011; Binyavanga Wainaina)
• Literature, African (Francophone) French-language African literature that features gender variance and same-sex sexuality. Sidebar: Le Devoir de Violence (1968; Yambo Ouologuem) Sidebar: Femme Nue, Femme Noire (2003; Calixthe Beyala)
• Literature, Caribbean (Anglophone and Creole) The work of English- and Creole-speaking queer Caribbean authors to increase visibility of nonnormative sexualities in the region.
• Literature, Caribbean (Francophone) The work of Francophone queer Caribbean authors to increase visibility of nonnormative sexualities in the region.
• M
• Madame Satã (1900–1976) The colorful life of the Brazilian street hustler and drag performer of early twentieth-century Rio de Janeiro.
• Mädchen in Uniform (1931; Leontine Sagan) Weimar German film that was one of the first to portray lesbianism on-screen.
• Maghreb The historical and modern European perceptions of the geographic region of North Africa as an exotic land steeped in homoeroticism. Sidebar: Tangier
• Malaysia The status of LGBTQ rights in this Southeast Asian country, including major Malaysian literary and cinematic works on LGBTQ themes.
• Marches on Washington The series of national marches on the US capital by the LGBTQ community between 1979 and 2017.
• Marriage Migration in Asia The migration of LGBTQ persons for reasons of marriage between Asian countries.
• Marriage, Same-Sex, in Latin America The history of the struggle to legalize same-sex marriage in the countries of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay.
• Marriage, Same-Sex, in Taiwan The path to LGBT marriage equality in Taiwan, which became the first Asian country to recognize this right in 2017.
• Marriage, Universal, in Europe The legal and political landscape influencing recognition of same-sex couples, either in marriage or state-recognized partnerships. Sidebar: Pacte Civil de Solidarité (PACS)
• Marriage, Woman-Woman, in Africa Institutionalized same-sex relationships between women in various African cultures.
• Masculinity in Iranian Cinema Portrayals of luti, shahid, fokoli, and other masculine archetypes from the Pahlavi era to contemporary times.
• Mattachine Society The first major homosexual political organization in the United States.
• Medicine, Complementary and Alternative The history of queer engagement in medical practices beyond conventional Western medicine.
• Meem Activist and support group for queer women and trans people in Lebanon from 2007 to 2014.
• Metelkova Mesto (Slovenia) A center for artistic subculture and queer life in Ljubljana.
• Mexican Revolution and Sexuality The impact of the 1910 revolution on Mexican gender norms.
• Migrant Queer Communities, US The cultural perceptions of, and challenges facing, queer migrants to the United States historically and in the twenty-first century.
• Migration to Europe The history of, reasons for, and challenges to LGBT migration to Europe. Militarism and Sexualities in the
• Asia-Pacific Region The policies of various countries in Asia regarding the inclusion of LGBT individuals in their armed forces.
• Military Law and Policy in the United States The evolution of military law and policy regarding LGBTI persons serving in the US armed forces.
• Military/Navy in the United Kingdom The history of discrimination against LGBTQ peoples in the British armed forces and the fight for inclusion. Sidebar: Merchant Navy
• Mishima, Yukio (1925–1970) Internationally recognized Japanese writer whose body of work includes homosexually themed novels.
• Misk al-Ghazal (1988; Hanan al-Shaykh) Portrayal of female homosexuality in this modern Arabic novel and the critical reception of its English translation, Women of Sand and Myrrh (1989).
• Moche Pottery The ceramic tradition of the Moche culture of the Central Andes between 200 and 900 CE, and debates about examples depicting “homosexual” acts.
• Molly Houses Gathering places for homosexual men in early eighteenth-century London.
• Mongolia The state of LGBTQI rights in this landlocked East Asian country historically and in the twenty-first century.
• Mozambique The history and current status of LGBTI persons in this East African country.
• MSM (Men Who Have Sex with Men) in Asia An umbrella term used for men who have sex with men, regardless of whether they identify as “gay,” and its complex usage in Asia.
• Mufākharat al-Jawārī wa-al-Ghilmān (al-Jāḥiẓ) Ninth-century CE work by the famous Abbasid polymath in which two characters debate the pleasures of sex with men versus sex with women.
• Mukhannath A male person who displays feminine traits in the Islamic world during the era of the caliphates.
• Museo Travesti del Perú An itinerant museum created by trans artist Giuseppe Campuzano that was the first to provide a comprehensive history of cross-dressing, queerness, and gender-bending in Peru.
• Museums and Memorials Significant LGBTQ-related museums, collections, exhibitions, and memorials.
• Muxes An indigenous “third gender” in a Mexican Zapotec community.
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• Namibia A historical and contemporary look at LGBTQ issues in this southern African nation.
• Nationalism and Sexuality in Europe The impact of nationalism on nonnormative expressions of sexuality in Europe, from the French Revolution to the twenty-first century. Sidebar: Federico García Lorca and the Spanish Civil War
• Naz Foundation International A prominent LGBT and HIV/AIDS advocacy organization working primarily in South and Southeast Asia. Sidebar: Humsafar Trust: India's Oldest LGBT Organization
• Neoliberalism in Africa The impact of neoliberal policies on the African LGBTQI rights movement.
• Neoliberalism in Latin America The impact of neoliberal policies on Latin America's LGBTI communities.
• New Media in Asia The impact of digital technologies on LGBT populations in Asia.
• The Nicaraguan Revolution LGBTI activism in Nicaragua from the 1960s to 1990, during the civil war and the Sandinista government that followed.
• Nigeria The status of the LGBT community in this West African nation.
• Nkoli, Simon (1957–1998) Prominent South African anti-apartheid, gay rights, and AIDS activist.
• Nuzhat al-Albāb Fīmā Lā Yujad Fī Kitāb (Aḥmad ibn Yūsuf al-Tifāshī) Thirteenth-century Arabic manuscript that classifies various sexual behaviors, including both male and female same-sex practices.
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• Offences Against the Person Act (1861) The application of this British law to prosecute sodomy both in the United Kingdom and in its colonial holdings.
• The Order of Chaeronea Secret society of homosexuals founded by George Cecil Ives in Great Britain in the early 1890s.
• Orgasm and Orgasmology Cultural perceptions of and research on the orgasm, particularly as they relate to queer bodies.
• Orientalism in Gay Pornography about the Middle East The manner in which Orientalism and pinkwashing influences gay pornography made in— and about—the Arab world.
• Otaku Sexualities in Japan Debates around the queerness of fan enthusiasm for Japanese media, particularly manga and anime.
• Ottoman and Persian Miniature Paintings Evidence of homoeroticism in the visual art of the Ottoman and Persian Empires.
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• Pacific Island and Pacific Island Diaspora Identities The historical and contemporary situation of transgender persons and same-sex practices in the Pacific Islands and in Pacific Island diasporas. Sidebar: Ritualized Same-Sex Practices in Melanesia
• Pakistan, “Queer” The use of the term queer in Pakistan, including related activist groups and the indigenous designation khwaja sira.
• Parada do Orgulho LGBT de São Paulo, Brazil One of the world's largest pride parades and its role in Brazilian LGBT politics.
• Parenting Rights in North America The history and current status of LGBTQ rights pertaining to adoption, surrogacy, fostering, and custody in Canada and the United States.
• Pasolini's Cinematic Adaptation of A Thousand and One Nights The misrepresentation of women, homosexuals, and Middle Eastern culture in the first Western movie adaptation of A Thousand and One Nights, produced in 1974.
• Penis The cultural weight of the penis in defining masculinity, its role in sexual pleasure, the ways it can be modified, and its relation to intersex and trans bodies.
• People Like Us (PLU) An early LGB organization in Singapore, established in 1993.
• Performance Artists in Latin America An overview of important queer performers, with a particular focus on those in Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.
• Phone Apps The cultural impact of dating apps aimed at LGBTQ individuals.
• Photography in Europe The development of this visual medium as an expression of queer sexuality.
• Pinhua Baojian (1849; Sen Chen) Chinese novel depicting homoerotic relations between members of the literati and the female impersonators of kunqu opera.
• Pink Triangle The Nazi label for gay prisoners of the Third Reich, which was repurposed as a symbol of gay pride in the early 1970s, first in Germany and then the United States.
• Pinkwashing The practice of championing gay rights as a way to distract attention from discrimination against other groups.
• Poets in Latin America The works of four major twentieth-century poets from Argentina, Mexico, and Chile that include queer elements.
• Popular Music and Queer Identities The ubiquity of queerness in Western popular music.
• Pornography The depiction of nonnormative sex acts in written and visual forms throughout history.
• Pornography in Asia The queering of pornography produced in Asia, with a focus on film and digital media. Sidebar: A Queer Reading of the Chinese Soft-Core Film Sex and Zen II (1996) Sidebar: Lezhin: South Korean Webtoons for Mature Audiences
• Pornoterrorismo and Post-Porn An artistic and political practice active throughout Latin America that aims to liberate and empower sexuality through the subversive resignification of pornographic images.
• Pride Demonstrations in Europe A historical and contemporary look at pride events held around Europe. Sidebar: Attacks on Pride Demonstrations in Moscow
• Pride Parades and Marches The functions, proliferation, globalization, and commodification of parades and events staged by LGBTQ persons.
• Psychoanalysis in Argentina The development of Argentina as a center of psychoanalysis in Latin America.
• Psychopathia Sexualis (1886; Richard von Krafft-Ebing) Influential reference work on sexual pathology that classified homosexuality as a pathological aberration and a symptom of hereditary degeneracy.
• Puerto Ricans in the Diaspora The cultural production and activism of queer Puerto Ricans living in major US cities and their continued connection with the island.
• Pulp Fiction, Gay and Lesbian The publication of cheap paperback novels dealing with gay and lesbian characters, often in sensationalistic ways, starting in 1950.
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• QT v. Hong Kong Immigration Department (2017) Landmark court case in which a British citizen in a same-sex partnership successfully sued for the right to join her partner in Hong Kong under a spousal visa.
• Queen Boat Trials (2001–2002) The arrest and subsequent trials of fifty-two Egyptian men for alleged homosexual acts, and the coverage of the case in Egyptian and Western media.
• Queer Domesticity in Europe The establishment of alternative households by LGBTQI persons in Europe.
• Queer in Latin America The theoretical differences between the North American term queer and its application in Latin America.
• Queer Names and Identity Politics in the Arab World Various terms used for same-sex sexuality in Arabic, and their implications for sexual identities.
• Queer Themes in Italian Neorealist Cinema The depiction of queer characters in movies produced in Italy in the post–World War II period until the early 1950s.
• Queer Theorists The scholars defining and debating the diverse field known as queer studies.
• Queer Theory, African The emerging field of study that encompasses an expanded understanding of LGBTI persons in Africa.
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• Rape, Corrective, in Africa The use of rape to “cure” women with nonnormative sexual identities in Africa.
• Refugees and Asylum in Africa The unique challenges faced by African LGBTQI individuals forced to migrate in response to persecution in their countries of origin.
• Refugees and Immigration Policies The history and current policies regarding LGBT refugees and asylum seekers.
• Religion and Same-Sex Behaviors: Christianity The theology on, and practice of, same-sex acts in Christian traditions, both historically and in modern times.
• Religion and Same-Sex Behaviors: Islam The historical and modern perspective on samesex behaviors, both culturally and legally, in Islam.
• Religion and Same-Sex Behaviors: Judaism Perspectives on homosexual behavior and gender variance in Jewish traditions.
• Rescalvo, Sònia (1946–1991) Transsexual whose murder at the hands of neo-Nazis spurred trans activism and reforms against hate crimes in Barcelona, Spain.
• Resorts The development and culture of various resorts around the world that cater particularly to an LGBTQ+ clientele. Sidebar: Houseboys at Resorts
• Rituals and Same-Sex and Trans Experience The complex concept of “ritual” and its expressions in various LGBTQ+ communities globally.
• Roopbaan Bangladesh's first gay magazine in Bengali, published in 2014. Sidebar: Hijras in Bangladesh
• Rüling, Anna (1880–1953) Lesbian journalist who was one of the first German women to write about and speak on behalf of lesbians.
• Rural Queer Communities, US The experience of LGBTQ individuals in rural US communities, both historically and in modern times.
• Rural Queerness Scholarly debate regarding the state of queer individuals in rural spaces globally, including depictions in movies and literature.
• Russian Gay Propaganda Law Law passed in 2013 that makes it illegal to promote nontraditional sexual relations among minors in the Russian Federation.
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• Sacred Band of Thebes An ancient Greek battalion supposedly consisting of pairs of male lovers and their beloveds.
• Samoan Fa‘afāfine Samoans who are biologically male but whose gendered behaviors are significantly more feminine than is normative for men in Samoan culture.
• Sappho, Nineteenth-Century Rediscovery of The association of the ancient Greek poet with lesbian desire in the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on the Sappho-inspired work Long Ago by Michael Field.
• Scandals in Europe Major scandals involving same-sex relationships within European government in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• Scouting The controversies around the policies of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and related organizations regarding sex and gender identity, with a focus on North America and Europe.
• Section 377 and Section 377A The history of, and efforts to overturn, British colonial penal codes against same-sex sexual activity in both Britain and its former colonial holdings.
• Section 377 in South Asia The impact of this British colonial code used to prosecute same-sex sexual practices specifically in South Asia.
• Senegal A historical and contemporary look at LGBTQ issues in this West African nation.
• Sex Reassignment Surgery in Asia The popularity and availability of this surgical procedure in various Asian countries. Sidebar: Jianshun Xie: The “First” Chinese Transsexual
• Sex Reassignment Surgery in Iran The religious rationale that allows Iranians to undergo sex-change operations in a country where same-sex sexual behavior is illegal.
• Sex Tourism in Asia The status and impact of LGBT tourism to Asia.
• Sex Tourism in Latin America and the Caribbean The state of queer sex work in various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as of organizations that support queer sex workers.
• Sex Tourism in the Middle East The ways in which Orientalism has influenced the sex tourism industry, with a particular focus on the countries of Lebanon, Israel, and Morocco.
• Sex Work in Asia Terminology and gender in studies of “queer and trans sex work” in Asia.
• Sex Work/Sex Tourism/Sex Trafficking in Africa Africa, particularly North Africa, as a destination for European sex tourism, and Europe as a hub for the sex trafficking of Africans, with a particular focus on gay sex workers. Sidebar: The Quiet Violence of Dreams (2001; K. Sello Duiker)
• Sexology in Asia The study of sexual science and its impact on queer subjectivities in the Asian context.
• Sexperts and Sex Education in the West The impact of sex research, advice, and education on perceptions of nonnormative sexualities, both historically and in the twenty-first century.
• Sexual Revolution in Europe The impact on the LGBTQ community of the mid-twentieth-century shift of European attitudes about sex and greater sexual freedoms.
• Sexual Revolution in the United States The impact on the LGBTQ community of the mid-twentieth-century shift of American attitudes about sex and greater sexual freedoms.
• Sharaf (1997; Sunʿallah Ibrahim) Novel that connects homosexuality with globalization to suggest that both entail a loss of honor for the average Egyptian man.
• Shifting Sexual Norms in Nineteenth-Century Iran The change in Iranian society from cultural acceptance of sexual relationships between grown men and adolescent boys to the delegitimization of this practice.
• Sins against Nature in Colonial Latin America The colonial prosecution of crimes grouped together under the term sodomy in Latin America from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Sidebar: Juana Aguilar: Hermaphroditism and Colonial Courts
• Situational Homosexuality A term used to describe same-sex sexual activity that occurs under specific circumstances rather than as part of a homosexual lifestyle.
• Slavery and Sodomy in Brazil Same-sex relations between slaves and their masters or free men in colonial Brazil.
• Sodomy Laws in the United States The history of US laws against sodomy and the legal battle to decriminalize it. Sidebar: The Sodomy Case against Nicholas Sension
• Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695) Iconic nun, poet, and scholar, known as the Mexican “Tenth Muse,” who manifested samesex desires in her writings.
• South Africa A historical and contemporary look at LGBTQ issues in Africa's southernmost nation. Sidebar: Bev Ditsie (1971–) Sidebar: Inxeba (2017; John Trengove)
• Southern Comfort Conference The largest convention for trans and gendernonconforming persons and their families in the United States.
• Spectra Project US-based charity supporting LGBTQ refugees in Turkey.
• Sports and Sexuality in Latin America The culture of sports and masculinity in Latin America and its impact on LGBTQ athletes.
• Sports, Women in, Africa The challenges faced by African female athletes, particularly lesbian and queer athletes. Sidebar: Caster Semenya (1991–)
• Stone Butch Blues (1993; Leslie Feinberg) Novel about an American lesbian's transition to a trans man.
• Stonewall Riots, International Effects of The global impact of the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn, which marked a symbolic turning point in gay rights activism.
• Strange Fruit An ethnically diverse queer collective that became the main hub of queer-of-color activism in the Netherlands during its years of activity from 1989 to 2002. Sufi Treatment of Same-Sex Relations
• in Poetry and Prose Homoerotic expressions in the literature of Islamic mysticism.
• Sunil Babu Pant and Others v. Nepal Government (2007) Landmark court case that paved the way for legal recognition of “third gender” identity and broadened the rights and protections of Nepal's LGBTQ community.
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• tatiana de la tierra (1961–2012) Colombian writer integral to the creation of the 1990s Latina lesbian magazines esto no tiene nombre and conmoción.
• Thai K-Pop The impact of this popular music genre on queer Thai identity.
• Theater, Queer The history and current state of gay, lesbian, and queer theater, focusing on the United Kingdom and the United States.
• Third Genders An umbrella term for individuals in diverse cultures who fall outside of traditional, primarily Western, gender binaries of “male” and “female.”
• Thomas/Thomasine Hall Court Case (1629) The case against an English indentured servant accused of violating gender norms in the Colony of Virginia in the early seventeenth century.
• A Thousand and One Nights The impact of the French and English versions of this collection of tales on Western views of Eastern sexuality, particularly the 1885–1886 edition by Richard Francis Burton. Sidebar: Same-Sex Relations in Arabic Versions of the Nights
• Tibet The status of the LGBTQ community in this Central Asian autonomous region, including the impact of Chinese rule.
• Tom of Finland (1920–1991) Finnish artist whose work portrayed strong, masculine gay men.
• Tongzhi The development and usage of the Chinese word tongzhi, an umbrella term for people with nonnormative genders and sexualities in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.
• Tongzhi Literature, Taiwan A genre of Chinese-language literature featuring homosexuality that flourished in Taiwan starting in the 1960s.
• Trans Issues in Africa The state of trans people in several different African countries as well as the work of activists to advance trans rights. Sidebar: Signs of Progress for Trans Individuals in Africa Sidebar: Key Dates in Trans Activism in Uganda
• Transfeminism The intersections of feminism and trans activism.
• Transgender Identity in Iranian Cinema Examines the portrayals of female-to-male (FTM) and male-to-female (MTF) cross-dressing and transsexuality in Iranian cinema.
• Transgender Muslims Descriptions of the various categories of transgendered peoples and their status in Islamic societies. Transgender Organizations in Mainland
• China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan The most significant transgender organizations to emerge in these areas since the 1990s. Transgendered Subjectivities in
• Contemporary Iran The status and cultural depictions of transgendered persons in Iran, with a focus on the period after the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
• Transvestites/Transsexuals The Euro-American development of labels for those who choose to dress in the clothing of the opposite gender and those who feel they are in the wrong body for their gender.
• Travel/Travelogues on the Middle East The promotion of the Middle East as an exotic destination for gay Western travelers. Travesti and Trans Activism in
• Travesti and Trans Activism in Latin America and the Caribbean The groups advocating for the rights of travesti and trans persons and the various forms activism takes in the region. Sidebar: El Teje
• Treason and Queerness The belief that homosexuality makes public servants more likely to engage in treason, including famous cases in Europe and the United States.
• Tuqus al-Isharat wa-al-Tahawwulat (1994; Saʿdallah Wannous) A modern Syrian play set in nineteenth-century Damascus that includes the first overt and serious dramatization of homosexuality in Arab theater.
• Turkish Baths The history of this Ottoman cultural tradition and its renaissance as a queer space in modern times.
• Two-Spirit A term used by North American Indigenous peoples to refer to nonnormative sexual or gender identities.
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• Ubuntu A dominant philosophy in traditional African communities that holds the inalienable rights of the individual as central, and how this philosophy is being used to advocate for LGBTQI rights.
• Uganda A historical and contemporary look at the LGBTQ community in this East African nation. Sidebar: Kabaka Mwanga (1866–1901)
• The Ugly Law (1961–1965; Denmark) A law intended to crack down on male prostitution in Copenhagen, which was successfully challenged by Danish gay rights advocates.
• Urban Queerness The role that urban milieus play in the production of queer culture, identity formation, and modes of socialization.
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• El Vampiro de la Colonia Roma (1979; Luis Zapata) Novella that was one of the first in Mexican literature to feature a gay protagonist.
• Vargas, Chavela (1919–2012) Iconic Latin American singer who queered Mexican musical genres.
• Vietnam War American, Australian, and Vietnamese LGBT participation in the war and their impact on gay liberation movements in those countries.
• Vietnam War, LGBTQ+ Veterans The postwar experiences of those who fought in this war from the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
• Von Mahlsdorf, Charlotte (1928–2002) Famous German transvestite.
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• W v. Registrar of Marriages (2013) Landmark court case granting transgendered persons the right to marry in Hong Kong.
• Waria The historical and contemporary position of male-to-female transgender subjects in Indonesia.
• “We Demand” Protest (1971) The first major public demonstration by the Canadian gay and lesbian liberation movement, including an explanation of the ten demands made by the protesters.
• The Well of Loneliness (1928; Radclyffe Hall) A novel about a sexual invert, which was subject to obscenity charges upon publication.
• Wilde in Sinophone Culture The importance of Oscar Wilde in general to Chinese culture and to its LGBT community in particular.
• Wilde Trials, International Significance of The trials of Irish-born writer Oscar Wilde for “gross indecency” in 1895 and their impact both in England and the world.
• Witchcraft/Occult in Africa The practice of demonizing African LGBTQ individuals by associating same-sex practices with witchcraft and the occult.
• The Wolfenden Report Influential report published in Great Britain in 1957 recommending that homosexual behavior between consenting adults no longer be considered a criminal offense.
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• Zheng He (1371–1433) Famed admiral and explorer in China's Ming dynasty who was also a eunuch.
• Zhongxing Phenomenon A popular movement of gender ambiguity among women in postmillennial East Asian Chinese-speaking societies in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
• Zimbabwe The history and current status of LGBTQ individuals in this landlocked southern African nation.
• Zuqaq al-Midaq (1947; Naguib Mahfouz) Egyptian novel that employs a judgmental colonialist gaze in its portrayal of a character who engages in same-sex sexual activity.