A rich heritage that needs to be documented Beginning in 1869, when the study of homosexuality can be said to have begun with the establishment of sexology, this encyclopedia offers accounts of the most important international developments in an area that now occupies a critical place in many fields of academic endeavours. It covers a long history and a dynamic and ever changing present, while opening up the academic profession to new scholarship and new ways of thinking. A groundbreaking new approach While gays and lesbians have shared many aspects of life, their histories and cultures developed in profoundly different ways. To reflect this crucial fact, the encyclopedia has been prepared in two separate volumes assuring that both histories receive full, unbiased attention and that a broad range of human experience is covered. Written for and by a wide range of people Intended as a reference for students and scholars in all fields, as well as for the general public, the encyclopedia is written in user-friendly language. At the same time it maintains a high level of scholarship that incorporates both passion and objectivity. It is written by some of the most famous names in the field, as well as new scholars, whose research continues to advance gender studies into the future.

Table of Contents:
A: ; Activism; Addams, Jane (1860–1935); Adolescence; Adoption; Advertising and Consumerism; African American Literature; African Americans; Ageism; Aging; AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome); Alcohol and Substance Abuse; All-Female Revues (Japan); Allan, Maud (1873–1956); Allen, Paula Gunn (1939-); Amazons; American Literature, Nineteenth Century; American Literature, Twentieth Century; Anderson, Margaret Carolyn (1886–1973); Androgyny; Animal Studies; Anne, Queen of England (1665–1714); Anthologies; Anthony, Susan B. (1820–1906); Anthropology; Antisemitism; Antiquity; Anzaldúa, Gloria E. (1942-); Arab Americans; Arab Literature, Modern; Architecture; Archives and Libraries; Argentina; Arnold, June (1926–1982); Art, Contemporary European; Art, Contemporary North American; Art, Mainstream; Arzner, Dorothy (1990–1979); Asian American Literature; Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders; Asian Lesbian Network; Associations and Organizations; Athletics, Collegiate; Austen, Alice (1866–1952); Australia; Austria; Autobiography; B: ; Balkan Sworn Virgin; Bannon, Ann (1937-); Barnes, Djuna Chappell (1892–1982); Barney, Natalie (1876–1972); Bars; Bates, Katharine Lee (1859–1929); Beach, Sylvia (1887–1962); Beauvoir, Simone de (1908–1986); Behn, Aphra (1640?-1689); Belgium; Benedict, Ruth (1887–1948); Bentley, Gladys (1907–1960); Berlin; Bibliographies and Reference Works; Biography; Biological Determinism; Bisexual Movement; Bisexuality; Bishop, Elizabeth (1911–1979); Black Church; Black Feminism; Blais, Marie-Claire (1939-); Blaman, Anna (1905–1960); Blues Singers; Boarding Schools; Body Image; Bonheur, Rosa (1822–1899); Bookstores; Boston Marriage; Bowen, Elizabeth (1899–1972); Bowles, Jane Auer (1917–1973); Boye, Karin (1900–1941); Brazil; Brittain, Vera Mary (1893–1970); Brooks, Romaine (1874–1970); Brossard, Nicole (1943-); Brown, Rita Mae (1944-); Bryher (1894–1983); Buffalo, New York; Bulldagger; Businesses, Lesbian; Butch-Femme; C: ; Camp; Canada; Caribbean; Cartoons and Comic Books; Cather, Willa (1873–1947); Catholicism; Censorship; Central America; Chambers, Jane (1937–1983); Charke, Charlotte (1713–1760); Cherry Grove, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Children; Chile; China; Chinese Literature; Choruses, Women's; Christianity, Early; Christina of Sweden (1626–1689); Churches, Lesbian and Gay; Class; Classical Literature; Clitoris; Closet; Coalition Politics; Colette (1873–1954); Collectives; Colleges, Women's; Colonialism; Combahee River Collective; Comedy, Standup; Coming Out; Coming Out Stories; Community; Community Centers; Community Organizing; Companionate Marriage; Composers; Compton-Burnett, Ivy (1884–1969); Compulsory Heterosexuality; Computer Networks and Services; Consciousness Raising; Cornwell, Anita (1923-); Couples; Crime and Criminology; Critical Theory; Cross-Dressing; Cruikshank, Margaret Louise (1940-); Cultural Studies; Cushman, Charlotte (1816–1876); Custody Litigation; Czech Republic; D: ; Dance; Daughters of Bilitis; Davis, Katherine Bement (1860–1935); Delarue-Mardrus, Lucie (1874–1945); Deming, Barbara (1917–1984); Demography; Demonstrations and Actions; Denmark; Diaries and Letters; Dickinson, Emily (1830–1886); Didrikson, Mildred Ella “Babe” (Zaharias) (1911–1956); Dietrich, Marlene (1901–1992); Disability; Discrimination; Documentaries; Domestic Partnership; Donor Insemination; Drag Kings; Duffy, Maureen Patricia (1933-); Dunbar-Nelson, Alice (1875–1935); Dyke; E: ; Ecology and Ecofeminism; Economics; Egypt; Electoral Politics; Encuentros de Lesbianas; English Literature, Eighteenth Century; English Literature, Nineteenth Century; English Literature, Twentieth Century; Enlightenment, European; Erauso, Catalina de (ca. 1585–1650); Erotica and Pornography; Essentialism; Ethics; Etiology; Europe, Early Modern; Evolution and Human Origins; F: ; Faderman, Lillian (1940-); Family; Fat Liberation; Female Support Networks; Feminism; Fiction; Fiction, Young Adult; Field, Michael; Film, Alternative; Film, Mainstream; Finland; Flanner, Janet (1892–1978); Food; Foster, Jeannette Howard (1895–1981); France; French Literature; Friendship; Fuller, Margaret (1810–1850); Furies, The; G: ; Garbo, Greta (1905–1990); Gay Games; Gay Liberation Movement; Gender; German Literature; Germany; Gidlow, Elsa (1898–1986); Girl Scouts; Gittings, Barbara (1932-); Gluck (Hannah Gluckstein) (1895–1978); Goddess Religion; Goldman, Emma (1869–1940); Gossip; Gothic; Grahn, Judy (1940-); Greece; Greenwich Village; Grier, Barbara (1933-); Grimké, Angelina Weld (1880–1958); H: ; Hall, Radclyffe (1880–1943); Hamilton, Edith (1867–1963); Hampton, Mabel (1902–1989); Hansberry, Lorraine (Vivian) (1930–1965); Harems; Harlem; Harlem Renaissance; Hawai'i; H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) (1886–1961); Health; Heroes; Heterosexism; Heterosexuality; High Schools, Lesbian and Gay; Hildegard of Bingen, Saint (1098–1179); History; Hoboes; Hollywood; Holtby, Winifred (1898–1935); Homophobia; Homosexuality; Human Rights; Humor; I: ; Identity; Identity Politics; Ideology; Immigration; Incest; India; Indigenous Cultures; Indonesia; International Organizations; Invisibility; Ireland; Islam; Israel; Italy; J: ; James, Alice (1848–1892); Japan; Jay, Karla (1947-); Jewett, Sarah Orne (1849–1909); Jewsbury, Geraldine (1812–1880); Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) (1412–1431); Johnston, Jill (1929-); Journalism; Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sor (1648–1695); Judaism; K: ; Kahlo, Frida (1907–1954); King, Billie Jean Moffitt (1943-); Kinsey Institute; Korea, South; L: ; Labeling; Labor Movement; Ladder, The; Ladies of Llangollen; Lagerlöf, Selma (1858–1940); Land; Landowska, Wanda (1879–1959); Iang, k.d. (Kathryn Dawn) (1961-); Language; Latin American Literature; Latina Literature; Latinas; Law and Legal Institutions; Leather; Leduc, Violette (1907–1972); Lee, Vernon (1856–1935); Legal Theory, Lesbian; Lesbian; Lesbian Avengers; Lesbian Connection; Lesbian Continuum; Lesbian Feminism; Lesbian Herstory Archives; Lesbian Impunity, Myth of; Lesbian Nation; Lesbian Studies; Lesbos, Island of; Lesotho; Lewis, Mary Edmonia (ca. 1843-after 1911); Liberalism; Libertinism; Librarians; Lister, Anne (1791–1840); Literary Criticism; Literary Images; London; Lorde, Audre (1934–1992); Los Angeles, California; Love; Lowell, Amy Lawrence (1874–1925); M: ; Mâhû; Mansfield, Katherine (1888–1923); Marches and Parades; Marie Antoinette (1755–1793); Marriage Ceremonies; Martin, Del (1921-) and Lyon, Phyllis (1924-); Masturbation; McCullers, Carson (1917–1967); Medicine; Mestizaje; Mew, Charlotte (1869–1928); Mexico; Michel, Louise (1830–1905); Middle Ages, European; Military; Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1892–1950); Millett, Kate (1934-); Misogyny; Mistral, Gabriela (1889–1957); Mitchell, Alice (1873?-1898); Miyamoto Yuriko (1899–1951); Modernism; Monogamy and Nonmonogamy; Moraga, Cherríe (1952-); Mothers, Lesbian; Music, Classical; Music Festivals; Music, Popular; Music, Women's; Mystery and Detective Fiction; Mythology, Classical; Mythology, Nonclassical; N: ; Naiad Press; Namibia; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF); National Organization for Women (NOW); Native Americans; Navratilova, Martina (1956-); Nazism; Nestie, Joan (1940-); Netherlands; New Left; New Right; New Woman; New Zealand; Nin, Anais (1903–1977); Noble, Elaine (1944-); Norton Sound Incident; Nursing; O: ; O'Brien, Kate (1897–1974); Olivia; Opera; Oppression; Oral History; P: ; Pacific Islands; Pacific Literature; Paris; Parker-Hulme Murder Case; Parker, Pat (1944–1989); Parnok, Sophia (1885–1933); Parra, Teresa de la (1889/90–1936); Passing Women; Passionlessness; Patriarchy; Peace Movement; Penelope, Julia (1941-); Performance Art; Performativity; Periodicals; Phallus; Philippines; Philips, Katherine (1632–1664); Philosophy; Photography; Physical Education; Pirie, Jane (ca. 1784) and Woods, Marianne (ca. 1779); Poetry; Poland; Political Theory; Portugal; Postmodernism; Prejudice; Prisons and Prisoners; Privacy; Protestantism; Provincetown, Massachusetts; Psychiatry; Psychoanalysis; Psychology; Psychotherapy; Publishing, Lesbian; Pulp Paperbacks; Q: ; Québec; Queer Nation; Queer Theory; R: ; Race and Racism; Radicalesbians; Radio; Rainey, Gertrude “Ma” (1886–1939); Raucourt, Françoise (1756–1815); Recovery Movement; Recreation; Relationship Violence; Religious Communities; Renault, Mary (1905–1983); Rich, Adrienne (1929-); Rights; Romantic Friendship; Roosevelt, Anna Eleanor (1884–1962); Routsong, Alma (1924–1996); Rukeyser, Muriel (1913–1980); Rule, Jane Vance (1931-); Rüling, Anna (dates unknown); Russia; S: ; Sackville-West, Vita (1892–1962); Sadomasochism; Safer Sex; Saints and Mystics; San Francisco, California; Sand, George (1804–1876); Sapphic Tradition; Sappho (ca. 600 B.C.E.); Sarton, May (1912–1996); Scholars; Science; Science Fiction; Scudder, Vida Dutton (1861–1954); Self-Defense; Self-Help; Separatism; Sex Education; Sex Practices; Sex Toys; Sex Wars; Sex Work; Sexism; Sexology; Sexual Harassment; Sexual Orientation and Preference; Sexuality; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Shockley, Ann Allen (1927-); Simcox, Edith Jemima (1844–1901); Singles; Sisterhood; Situational Lesbianism; Slang; Slovenia; Small Towns and Rural Areas; Smashes, Crushes, Spoons; Smith, Barbara (1946-); Smith, Bessie (1894?-1937); Smith, Lillian Eugenia (1897–1966); Smyth, Dame Ethel Mary (1858–1944); Social-Construction Theory; Social Work; Socialism; Sociology; Solanas, Valerie (1936–1988); Sororities; South Africa; Spain; Spanish Literature; Spinsters; Spirituality; Sports, Professional; Stein, Gertrude (1874–1946); Stereotypes; Stigma; Students; Style; Subculture; Suffrage Movement; Suicide; Sweden; Switzerland; Symbols; Synagogues; T: ; Talwan; Taylor, Valerie (1913–1997); Teachers; Technology; Television; Teresa of Avila (1515–1582); Thailand; Theater and Drama, Contemporary; Theater and Drama, History of; Thomas, M. Carey (1857–1935); Toklas, Alice B. (1877–1967); Tolerance; Tomboy; Tourism and Guidebooks; Transgender; Tribade; Tsvetaeva, Marina Ivanovna (1892–1941); Two-Spirit; U: ; United Kingdom; United States; Utopian Literature; V: ; Vampires; Vargas, Chavela (1919-); Vegetarianism; Video; Violence; Vivien, Renée (1877–1909); W: ; Walker, A'Lelia (1885–1931); Walker, Mary Edwards (1832–1919); Warner, Sylvia Townsend (1893–1978); Washington, D.C.; Welrauch, Anna Elisabet (1887–1970); Wilhelm, Gale (1908–1991); Winsloe, Christa (1888–1944); Witches, Persecution of; Wittig, Monique (1935-); Wolff, Charlotte (1897–1986); Woman-Identified Woman; Womanist; Women of Color; Women's Lberation Movement; Women's Studies; Woolf, Virginia (1882–1941); Work; Wu Zao (ca. 1800s); Y: ; Yosano Akiko (1878–1942); Yoshiya Nobuko (1896–1973); Yourcenar, Marguerite (1903–1987); Yugoslavia, Former; Z: ; Zimbabwe; 'Zines