History and Memory of Dissident Sexualities from Latin America

This article focuses on Red Latinoamericana de Archivos, Museos, Acervos y Investigadores LGBTQIA+ (AMAI LGBTQIA+), a network composed of researchers and institutions related to LGBTQIA+ memory in Latin America, founded in 2019. First, the authors analyse the network’s creation arising from the discontent of some participants of the June 2019 Archives, Libraries, Museums and Special Collections (ALMS) Conference, in Berlin, who felt bothered by the lack of attention given to subaltern perspectives on LGBTQIA+ history and memory. Next, the authors describe and analyse the network’s first year of activities communicated through its Facebook group. Multiple challenges arose from creating a network with members from different national origins, languages, and identities, especially considering the conservative political contexts of several Latin American countries and the social distancing measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, the authors present a general profile of the network’s members and a map of partner institutions. Finally, the article points out some challenges to the network’s continuity and its desire to render Latin America more visible in the broader panorama of global LGBTQIA+ history. The authors conclude by highlighting the importance of AMAI LGBTQIA+ in stimulating further discussions about the participation of global-south researchers and perspectives on global queer history initiatives.

Bridging LGBT+ Content Gaps Across Wikipedia Language Editions

In the past several years, the Wikimedia Movement has become more aware of the lack of representation of specific communities, that is, content gaps. Next to geographical and gender-related initiatives, the LGBT+ Wikimedia community has organized to create LGBT+ content encompassing (among other topics) biographies, events, and culture. In this paper, we present a computational approach to collecting and analyzing LGBT+ articles. We selected 14 Wikipedia language editions to study the coverage of LGBT+ content in general, its visibility in the list of Featured Articles, and its overlap with the local content of the Wikipedia language editions. Results show that a considerable part of potentially LGBT+ related content exists across Wikipedia language editions; however, this relation is not evident in each language edition. In this sense, closing the LGBT+ content gap is about creating articles and making connection to the topic visible in already existing articles. We also analyze the frequency of biographies of persons with non-heterosexual sexual orientations. We find that even though they represent only a small share of all biographies, they are a bit more frequent among the Featured Articles. When taking into account all the LGBT+ biographies of the different languages, English context celebrities are the most visible. While part of the LGBT+ content is related to each language edition's local context, it tends to be less contextualized than the entire language editions. This indicates the possibility of growing LGBT+ content in each Wikipedia language edition by representing its most immediate LGBT+ local context. We propose a dashboard tool to find relevant LGBT+ articles across language editions and start bridging the gaps. Finally, we conclude this study by presenting recommendations for the next steps amongst the Wikipedia communities to fill some of these gaps.

Information Activism

Book Review

Cover and Credits

Cover and journal credits pages for Volume 5, Number 4.

Silence May Equal Death, But So Does Uncompensated Queer Labor

Editorial

Knowledge Justice

Book Review

Documenting Rebellions

Book Review

Crisis of Erasure

In this paper, we use the topic of breast cancer as an example of health crisis erasure in both informational and institutional contexts, particularly within the transgender and gender-nonconforming population. Breast cancer health information conforms and defaults to conventional cultural associations with femininity, as is the case with pregnancy and other “single-sex” conditions (Surkan, 2015). Many health information and research practices normalize sexualities, pathologize non-normative gender (Drescher et al., 2012; Fish, 2008; Müller, 2018), and fail to recognize gender-nonconforming categories (Frohard‐Dourlent et al., 2017). Because breast cancer health information is sexually normalized, an information boundary exists for the LGBTQ+ community, particularly among transgender and gender-nonconforming adults who are at greater risk of discrimination in healthcare settings (Casey et al., 2019). Transgender and gender-nonconforming people experience unique marginalization and risk with respect to breast cancer. We call upon and propose library and information research, education, and practice opportunities inclusive of the health information needs of transgender and gender-nonconforming populations.

“She Started Wearing Men’s Clothing and Acting More Masculine"

This paper examines two examples of archival visual information with potentially transgender and non-binary representation to interrogate the descriptive challenges latent within such materials. By using gender theory and queer historiography, this paper deploys a critical case study to consider the particularities of naming gender when contextual evidence provides little to no authoritative guidance. By talking through the way gender makes itself visible within visual information, the paper guides readers through the way transgender or non-binary identity might exist within both pieces of visual information. The paper then provides suggestions on how to provide respectful and inclusive descriptive records that attend to the complexities of a still-evolving queer history. By offering both a statement on the impossibility of naming identity within intersecting forms of queer embodiment alongside reference points for methods of discussing potential gendered identities, the paper offers practical approaches to describing transgender and non-binary identities for information professionals.

A Trauma-Informed Approach to Library Services

Book Review