Because Gender and Sexuality is studied across almost all academic disciplines, the library has many databases that cover these issues. Each field may use different search terms (see box at the bottom of this page). If you need help, librarians are always available. We love to assist with your questions. To get started, try a multidisciplinary database with sources from a variety of academic disciplines:
Full text for thousands of peer-reviewed journals and general interest sources across many subject areas.
JSTOR and Project MUSE have highly regarded, scholarly ebooks, many on transgender and queer topics. You can download each and any chapter as a pdf that you can print out and keep forever.
Use the ? symbol that means any letter. For instance transwom?n means either transwoman or transwomen
Access ebooks and scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, sciences, and the social sciences. Journal content is often not available until 1+ years after publication.
Look for theological discussions of sex and gender from many different religious and spiritual viewpoints.
Includes resources in the fields of sociology and related subject areas.
Provides full-text research on a wide range of education topics. Includes peer-reviewed journals, books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, and much more.
Provides abstracts and full text of thousands of journals from the 1800s to the present in psychology and related disciplines, including education, linguistics, neurosciences, pharmacology, and social work.
Science resources inform you about the biological and genetic basis for sex, sexuality, and gender.
Easy access to full-text science content including encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, websites, pictures, illustrations, audio clips, and video clips.
LGBTQ+ Source indexes the world’s literature regarding Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer issues, both academic and grassroots. It’s invaluable as both an academic resource and for casual reading.
In-depth articles on controversial topics such in areas like politics, government, business, education, and popular culture. Includes supporting resources like timelines, statistics, and pros/cons statements.
Sources may use different terms to describe the same group of people or concept depending on the discipline (e.g., biology vs. psychology vs. gender studies). Especially if you are searching for older articles and books, some database require you to use terms that may be offensive to you or other people you care about. However, if authors used such terms, this may be the only way to find them.
For example, gender studies and other social science sources may refer to non-binary persons by various terms:
| Gender-variant people | people who identity themselves with gender concepts that differ from what a culture or society generally considers as usual or normal |
| Bigender people | people who self-identify as, or choose gender expressions of, both or some combination of the two culturally-dominant genders. Works on people who are sexually attracted to both men and women are entered under "Bisexuals." Works on people who are born with physical characteristics of both sexes are entered under "Intersex people." |
| Androgynes | people who deliberately adopt characteristics of both genders or strive to attain a gender-neutral or nongender status |
| Third Gender | people who deliberately adopt characteristics of both genders or strive to attain a gender-neutral or nongender status |
| Hijras | Indian and Pakistani gender variant people who are born male or intersex but live and dress as women. They are considered neither male nor female, and may undergo the surgical removal of the genitals. |
| Two-spirit people | Native Americans, especially men, who assume the dress, role, and status of the opposite sex |
Medical and psychology databases will have less variation in the terms used, and terms will have a more medicalized, clinical flavor to them:
| Transgender | Having or relating to gender identities that differ from culturally determined gender roles and biological sex |
| Gender Identity Disorder | Significant distress or impairment of function due to cross-gender identification |
| Testicular Feminization Syndrome | Occurs when an individual who is genetically male (has an X and Y chromosome) is unresponsive to androgen. As a result, the individual exhibits some or all of the phenotypic characteristics of a female |