Research Guides: Racial Justice Resources for Activists, Advocates &amp; Allies: LGBTQIA+

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LGBTQIA+: racial justice resources

Storme DeLarverie, Marsha P. Johnson and Bayard Rustin.New York Times, Netflix, Getty Images

A CALL FOR RACIAL JUSTICE IN THE LGBTQ RIGHTS MOVEMENT The criminal legal system has failed time and time again to uphold the most basic tenet of democracy, that of equality. The American criminal legal system is indeed broken, and has proven itself deeply dysfunctional, consistently dangerous, and quite literally deadly. Black people, many of whom are LGBTQ, bear the brunt of racial disparities in every facet of the institution, from arrests to sentencing. Nowhere is this more evident than in the killing of black people by police. As early as elementary school, black children are overly policed, resulting in the spectrum of criminalization referred to as the school-to-prison pipeline. We as LGBTQ organizations cannot back away from this outrageous injustice.

As we confront the recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, one in a string of killings of African Americans by police officers or former police officers around the country, it is imperative that we take action. We must recognize that racial justice is an LGBTQ issue, that racial disparities in the criminal legal system are LGBTQ rights issues, and that the killing of black people by police is an LGBTQ rights issue. (Georgia Equality)

5 Ways Ableism Looks in Queer Spaces
As queer folks with disabilities, we experience oppression from a totally different lens. So many of us turn to safe spaces for queer people for relief from the oppression and isolation we experience. Most of these spaces center voices of color and folks from marginalized experiences and are usually considered intersectional. With that said, you’d think that these spaces would be equally safe and affirming for folks with disabilities (FwD) as well, but that’s not always the case. Here’re five ways ableism shows itself in Queer/Activist spaces.
2015 U.S. Transgender Survey: Report on the Experiences of Black Respondents
This report focuses on the unique experiences of respondents who identified as Black or African American in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (National Center for Transgender Equality, Black Transmen, Black Transwomen Inc., and the National Black Justice Coalition)
Better Together Research Findings on the Relationship between Racial Justice Organizations and LGBT Communities
This study included a survey of 81 organizations of color and interviews with 32 leaders of racial justice and LGBT organizations.
Health Equity and LGBT Elders of Color: recommendations for Policy and Practice
This policy brief offers 10 policy recommendations that can begin advancing health equity among LGBT elders of color.
LGBTQ Workers of Color (Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders [SAGE] )
Intersections of LGBTQ Issues and Racial Justice Resource List
reports, studies, articles, and other resources that highlight the intersectionality between LGBTQ issues and racial justice.
Racial Justice & Inclusion: a Primer for LGBT Movement Funders
MAP's Primer: Issues of Racial Justice and Inclusion serves as a starting point, rather than a definitive analysis, that can inform efforts to work on racial justice and inclusion within the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) movement. Drawing from secondary research and a small number of interviews, it is designed to provide an overview of general issues of race and ethnicity in American society and to motivate LGBT funders to work on issues of racial justice and inclusion.
State of Black LGBTQ+ Cincinnati
Living at the intersection of LGBTQ+ and Black identity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Panelists: Marcel Hughes, Kersha Deibel, and Jennifer Barnes Balenciaga.

LGBTQIA+ web resources

Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN): Neurodiversity is for Everyone ™
he mission of Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) is to provide community, support, and resources for Autistic women, girls, transfeminine and transmasculine nonbinary people, trans people of all genders, Two Spirit people, and all others of marginalized genders. AWN Network is dedicated to building a supportive community where we can share our experiences in an understanding, diverse and inclusive environment. AWN is committed to recognizing and celebrating diversity and the many intersectional experiences in our community.
Building Bridges Collaborative
created with a vision to deeply impact the community by providing a plethora of resources and above all else provide support and love for those who might not get that love anywhere else. It began as a simple roundtable discussion with the Children's Home of Northern Kentucky and Love Must Win. From there we have had up to 40 organizations join us at a single meeting. Showing that this city and this community are ready for some unifying action.
Caracole
Caracole is Greater Cincinnati tristate region's nonprofit AIDS Service Organization, devoted to positively changing lives in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Cincy Black Pride
When Cincinnati Black Pride relaunched in 2018 we were dedicated to not being limited to just a Pride march or weekend of events and parties. We invite the Cincinnati Black Pride community and our friends and allies to join us as we discuss topics of relevance to our community.
Crossport
The Transgender Health Clinic at Cincinnati Children’s provides an accepting atmosphere and services for patients 5-24 years old.
Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Greater Cincinnati
Serve as an informational resource to the broader community. Unlike the big Centers, often associated with an HIV group or political rights group, the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Greater Cincinnati is an independent, all volunteer group, which works with the community(ies) through this site.
GLSEN Greater Cincinnati
GLSEN Greater Cincinnati is a grassroots initiative, working locally in our community to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our chapter supports students and educators locally, organizes around LGBTQ-affirming public policy, plans teacher trainings, and hosts events for students, educators, parents, and allies.
LGBTQ Center (UC)
The LGBTQ Center supports the mission of the University of Cincinnati through a commitment to diversity, equity, leadership development, and intellectual inquiry with particular respect to sexual orientation and gender identity. The Center is an inclusive campus community that welcomes people of all sexual orientations and gender identities and provides support, resources and advocacy. The Center facilitates LGBTQ visibility by promoting and enhancing understanding, acceptance, and awareness regarding LGBTQ issues.
LGBTQ Faculty and Staff Association (UC)
The UC LGBTQ+ Faculty and Staff Association (FSA) was established in 2018 with the support of the Office of the Provost. As an Association that represents both faculty and staff, we aim to help create a more equitable environment in which LGBTQ members of the university community can flourish in their work environments and be productive researchers, teachers, and staff members.
Lighthouse Youth & Family Services
Lighthouse is working to prevent and end LGBTQ youth homelessness in Hamilton County, Ohio, implementing strategies to make sure every LGBTQ youth has the housing, resources, and connections to thrive.
Meet 20 local LGBTQ leaders who are shaping Cincinnati
Artists, pastors, lawyers, activists, historians, educators, social workers, law enforcement officers, journalists—these 20 local LGBTQ advocates all have their hand in Cincinnati’s future. We asked them about the city’s progress and what still needs to be done to further advance the LGBTQ community.
National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC)
Our mission is to end racism, homophobia, and LGBTQ+/SGL bias and stigma. NBJC supports Black individuals, families, and communities in strengthening the bonds and bridging the gaps between the movements for racial justice and LGBTQ+/SGL equity..
The National LGBTQ Task Force
The Task Force’s Advocacy and Action team identifies and takes action on advocacy opportunities to advance full freedom, justice, equality AND equity for LGBTQ people. We seek to achieve this by Queering the Progressive movement and strategically galvanizing and mobilizing the LGBTQ community and LGBTQ allies at places of intersectionality.
NKY Pride Center
The NKY Pride Center’s mission is to advance LGBTQ+ equity and inclusion efforts in the region by meeting the needs for community-based services and programs for LGBTQ+ Northern Kentuckians. The NKY Pride Center is an all volunteer membership organization.
PFLAG Cincinnati
PFLAG Cincinnati is a non-profit organization of volunteers who offer support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex individuals, families and friends in a safe and caring environment.
Refuge Restrooms
Refuge Restrooms is a web application that seeks to provide safe restroom access for transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming individuals. Users can search for restrooms by proximity to a search location, add new restroom listings, as well as comment and rate existing listings. We are trans-led and seek to create a community focused not only on finding existing safe restroom access, but also advocating for transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people’s safety.
The Safe Zone Project
The Safe Zone Project (SZP) is a free online resource providing curricula, activities, and other resources for educators facilitating Safe Zone trainings (sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ+ education sessions), and learners who are hoping to explore these concepts on their own. Co-created by Meg Bolger and Sam Killermann in 2013, the SZP has become the go-to resource for anyone looking to add some Safe Zone to their life.
Support Groups (Cincinnati Public Library)
Local, regional, & online resources curated by library staff.
Transform
Transform has a simple goal: Provide free wardrobes, head to toe, for transgender and gender non conforming youth, we work with transgender and gender non-conforming youth to provide free wardrobes with everything they need head to toe. The destination is yours to create, we are here to help you get started; with free clothing and wardrobe styling.
TransOhio
TransOhio serves the Ohio transgender and ally communities by providing services, education, support, and advocacy, which promotes and improves the health, safety and life experience of the Ohio transgender individual and community.
Trans Rights Libguide (Cornell)
This guide provides information and resources around research into trans rights, including tracking the status of current legislation.
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project offers accredited life-saving, life-affirming programs and services to LGBTQ youth that create safe, accepting and inclusive environments over the phone, online and through text.
Trevor Lifeline--The only national 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for LGBTQ young people under 25, available at 1-866-488-7386.
TrevorChat--A free, confidential, secure instant messaging service for LGBTQ youth that provides live help from trained volunteer counselors, open daily.
TrevorText--A free, confidential, secure service in which LGBTQ young people can text a trained Trevor counselor for support and crisis intervention, available daily by texting START to 678-678.
Women Helping Women
Campus-Based Advocacy
To support survivors of gender-based violence in institutions of higher education, Women Helping Women proudly partners with the University of Cincinnati and Miami University to provide free and confidential advocacy services on their campuses. Students, faculty, and staff of all genders who are survivors of sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking have access to comprehensive and survivor-centered services from WHW’s Campus-based Advocates.

LGBTQIA+ racial justice activists

5 Black LGBTQ activists that shaped the civil rights movement
Intersectionality has always played a huge part in driving the LGBT and black movement forward, finding community and solidarity in belonging to a minority group. With racial and sexual discrimination being most prominent in the 1960s-80s, with it came many inspirational activists advocating for justice and equality. To celebrate Pride month, we remember just a handful of black activists that progressed the LGBT+ and civil rights movement.
6 LGBTQ+ activists you should know about this Pride month
All people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, should have equal rights and be able to live free from harm, coercion, or discrimination. To celebrate Pride Month, we're highlighting some incredible activists past and present working for LGBTQ+ rights.
7 Young Black LGBTQ Activists You Should Know
The fights for racial equality and LGBTQ equality have always gone hand-in-hand, and there’s a long history of Black queer activists leading change and fighting discrimination -- from Bayard Rustin to Audre Lorde and beyond. Their contributions span centuries, and their fight for social change continues with the work of modern-day activists. Here are 7 young Black LGBTQ activists who inspire us this Pride Month.
15 LGBTQ Activists of the Past and Present You Should Know
Without these incredible activists, the LGBTQ rights movement would not be where it is today. In honor of Pride Month, Global Citizen is celebrating the brave activists fighting for LGBTQ rights in places where it can be dangerous to do so, and the inspiring champions for change, without whom there might never have been a Pride Month. While certainly not an exhaustive list by any means, these are 15 LGBTQ activists you should know.
16 Queer Black Pioneers Who Made History
From Marsha P, Johnson to Lori Lightfoot, NBC Out honors the black LGBTQ trailblazers of the past and present.
Black Heroes of the LGBT Community (GLSEN)

LGBTQIA+ videos

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
On November 20, 2013, Bayard Rustin was posthumously awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Rustin was at most of the important events of the Civil Rights Movement-but always in the background. This film asks "Why?" It presents a vivid drama, intermingling the personal and the political, about one of the most enigmatic figures in 20th-century American history. One of the first "freedom riders," an adviser to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and A. Philip Randolph, organizer of the march on Washington, intelligent, gregarious, and charismatic, Bayard Rustin was denied his place in the limelight for one reason-he was gay

Bayard Rustin (Untold: Hidden Histories)
Call Number: Films on Demand
Publication Date: 2021
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was the biggest protest America had ever seen. It culminated in Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr’s iconic “I Have A Dream” speech. But the man who made it all possible, chief organiser Bayard Rustin, was almost written out of history not because he was black, but because he was gay.

James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket James Baldwin was at once a major 20th-century American author, a civil rights activist, and a prophetic voice calling Americans, black and white both, to confront their shared racial tragedy. This film biography of Baldwin’s life captures the passion of his beliefs with stirring excerpts from his novels and striking archival footage dating from the Harlem Renaissance through to the author’s commentary on civil rights to his writing retreats in Istanbul and Europe. Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and William Styron provide insight as the program skillfully links excerpts from Baldwin’s major works to different historical stages in black-white dialogue. (87 minutes, Films on Demand)

LGBTQIA+ books

Ain't I a Woman by Bell Hooks
Call Number: LANGSAM Stacks E185.86 .H68
ISBN: 9780861043798
Publication Date: 1987-03-20
In this classic study, cultural critic bell hooks examines how black women, from the seventeenth century to the present day, were and are oppressed by both white men and black men and by white women.Illustrating her analysis with moving personal accounts, Ain't I a Woman is deeply critical of the racism inherent in the thought of many middle-class white feminists who have failed to address issues of race and class.While acknowledging the conflict of loyalty to race or sex is still a dilemma, hooks challenges the view that race and gender are two separate phenomena, insisting that the struggles to end racism and sexism are inextricably intertwined.
The Big Sea by Langston Hughes; Arnold Rampersad (Introduction by)
Call Number: ON DISPLAY Blue Ash Stacks PS3515 .U274 Z5 1993
ISBN: 0809015498
Publication Date: 1993
Langston Hughes, born in 1902, came of age early in the 1920s. In The Big Sea he recounts those memorable years in the two great playgrounds of the decade--Harlem and Paris. In Paris he was a cook and waiter in nightclubs. In Harlem he was a rising young poet--at the center of the "Harlem Renaissance."
Black on Both Sides: a racial history of trans identity by C. Riley Snorton
ISBN: 9781452955865
Publication Date: 2017-12-05
In Black on Both Sides, C. Riley Snorton identifies multiple intersections between blackness and transness from the mid-nineteenth century to present-day anti-black and anti-trans legislation and violence.
Feminist, Queer, Crip by Alison Kafer
Call Number: OhioLINK
ISBN: 9780253009227
Publication Date: 2013-05-16
In Feminist, Queer, Crip Alison Kafer imagines a different future for disability and disabled bodies. Challenging the ways in which ideas about the future and time have been deployed in the service of compulsory able-bodiedness and able-mindedness, Kafer rejects the idea of disability as a pre-determined limit. She juxtaposes theories, movements, and identities such as environmental justice, reproductive justice, cyborg theory, transgender politics, and disability that are typically discussed in isolation and envisions new possibilities for crip futures and feminist/queer/crip alliances. This bold book goes against the grain of normalization and promotes a political framework for a more just world.
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Call Number: CLER Stacks E185.61 .B195 1993
ISBN: 9780679744726
Publication Date: 1992-12-01
At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin's early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document from the iconic author of If Beale Street Could Talk and Go Tell It on the Mountain. It consists of two "letters," written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism
Home Girls: a Black feminist anthology by Barbara Smith (Editor)
ISBN: 9780813527536
Publication Date: 2000-03-01
The pioneering anthology Home Girls features writings by Black feminist and lesbian activists on topics both provocative and profound. Since its initial publication in 1983, it has become an essential text on Black women's lives and writings.
Lesbians of color : social and human services by Hilda Hidalgo
Call Number: LAW Morgan Hum Rts HV1449 .L49 1995
ISBN: 1560247517
Publication Date: 1995-11-21
Broaden your understanding of lesbians of color, their perspectives, and their needs from a human services point of view. Lesbians of Color: Social and Human Services helps you understand the ways in which lesbians of color perceive important issues related to their oppression and discrimination by the dominant social service community.
Lgbtq Cincinnati by Ken Schneck; Jim Obergefell (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9781467105118
Publication Date: 2020-06-15
Cincinnati's LGBTQ history is a study in riveting contradictions. Seen as one of the more conservative cities in Ohio, Cincinnati is also the home of the first Pride march in the entire state. A strong move to censor the LGBTQ-related art of Robert Mapplethorpe at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center resulted in a nationally publicized trial where freedom of expression emerged victorious in the face of those who zealously sought to suppress the LGBTQ community's voice. The passage of Issue 3 in 1993 epitomized the tenet that minority rights should never be up for majority vote, while the repeal of Article XII eleven years later displayed the sheer power of mobilization. Through protests, celebrations, and demonstrations of unadulterated pride, Cincinnati has proven itself over and over again as a community of individuals trying to make the Queen City live up to its royal--and decidedly LGBTQ--name.
Living As a Lesbian by Cheryl Clarke
Call Number: OhioLINK
ISBN: 193833406X
Publication Date: 2014-01-15
chronicles Clarke's years of literary and political activism with anger, passion, and determination
Remember Me to Harlem by Emily Bernard (Editor); Langston Hughes; Carl Van Vechten
Call Number: Blue Ash Stacks PS3515.U274 Z598 2001
ISBN: 0679451137
Publication Date: 2001
These engaging and wonderfully alive letters paint an intimate portrait of two of the most important and influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Carl Van Vechten--older, established, and white--was at first a mentor to the younger, gifted, and black Langston Hughes. A correspondence of great cultural significance, Remember Me to Harlem shows us an unlikely friendship, one that is essential to our understanding of literature and race relations in twentieth-century America.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
Call Number: OhioLINK
ISBN: 9780143134442
Publication Date: 2020-02-25
In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope. The groundbreaking feminist's timely collection of nonfiction writings on race, gender, and LGBTQ issues is now for the first time in Penguin Classics as part of the Penguin Vitae series, with a foreword by poet Mahogany L. Browne.
The Truth That Never Hurts by Barbara Smith
Call Number: LANGSAM Stacks E185.86 .S635 1998
ISBN: 9780813525730
Publication Date: 1998-10-01
The Truth That Never Hurts brings together for the first time more than two decades of literary criticism and political thought about gender, race, sexuality, power, and social change. As one of the first writers in the United States to claim Black feminism for Black women in the early seventies, Barbara Smith has done groundbreaking work in defining a Black women's literary tradition; in examining the sexual politics of the lives of Black and other women of color; in representing the lives of Black lesbians and gay men; and in making connections between race, class, sexuality, and gender
Unapologetic: a Black, queer, and feminist mandate for radical movements by Charlene Carruthers
Call Number: SearchOhio
ISBN: 9780807039823
Publication Date: 2019-08-27
A manifesto from one of America's most influential activists which disrupts political, economic, and social norms by reimagining the Black Radical Tradition. Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development. It also offers a flexible model of what deeply effective organizing can be, anchored in the Chicago model of activism, which features long-term commitment, cultural sensitivity, creative strategizing, and multiple cross-group alliances. And Unapologetic provides a clear framework for activists committed to building transformative power, encouraging young people to see themselves as visionaries and leaders.
Violence Against Queer People by Doug Meyer
Call Number: Langsam Reserves HV6250.4.H66 M49 2015
ISBN: 9780813573168
Publication Date: 2015-10-11
Violence against lesbians and gay men has increasingly captured media and scholarly attention. But these reports tend to focus on one segment of the LGBT community—white, middle class men—and largely ignore that part of the community that arguably suffers a larger share of the violence—racial minorities, the poor, and women. In Violence against Queer People, sociologist Doug Meyer offers the first investigation of anti-queer violence that focuses on the role played by race, class, and gender.