University Libraries

By Josie Carpenter-Lewis ’27

University of Dayton Libraries is celebrating LGBTQ+ History Month by elevating queer authors whose voices have made an impact on not only queer literature, but mainstream literature. 

LGBTQ+ History Month was founded in 1994 to recognize the community’s accomplishments. October was chosen because it coincided with National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11 and the anniversary of the first march for gay rights in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 14, 1979. Three decades since its founding, this national history month continues to encourage openness and education about LGBTQ+ history and rights.

Audre Lorde: Poet, Lesbian, Advocate

Born in New York City in 1934, Audre Lorde was the daughter of Caribbean immigrants and found her passion for poetry at the age of 12. Publishing her first poem before graduating high school, Lorde had a prolific career in both poetry and activism, seeking to share her experiences and advocate for what was near and dear to her. Lorde wrote collections of poetry expressing the intersectionality of racial injustices, homophobia, sexism and classism. After her breast cancer diagnosis, Lorde chose to write about her experiences battling a disease many at the time were silent about.

As Lorde gained international acclaim, she earned honorary doctorates from all three colleges she attended and received prestigious awards including the 1992 Bill Whitehead Memorial Award for Lifetime Achievement, given to an LGBTQ+ author for outstanding work and commitment to fostering queer culture, and the Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for Poetry in 1991, making her the state poet of New York until her death in 1992. Since then, Lorde has continued to be recognized for her literary achievements. 

Recommended Reading

If you would like to read more about Audre Lorde or read some of her poetry, here are some suggestions. Students, faculty and staff can access these titles from Roesch Library. Alumni and friends can find these titles at their local libraries.

• Sister Outsider, by Audre Lorde
• I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde, by Audre Lorde; edited by Rudolph P. Byrd, Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Beverly Guy-Sheftall
• The Black Unicorn: Poems, by Audre Lorde
• Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde, by Alexis De Veaux: Drawing from the private archives of Lorde’s estate and numerous interviews, De Veaux demystifies Lorde's iconic status, charting her conservative childhood in Harlem; her early marriage to a white, gay man with whom she had two children; her emergence as an outspoken Black feminist lesbian; and her elevation as a seminal poet of American literature.
• Conversations with Audre Lorde, edited by Joan Wylie Hall: Painfully aware that differences could provoke prejudice and violence, Lorde promoted the bridging of barriers. These interviews reveal the sense of displacement that made Lorde a champion of the outcast and the forgotten — whether in New York, Mississippi, Berlin, or Soweto, South Africa.

Books About LBGTQ History

• The LGBTQ+ History Book: Showcasing the breadth of the LGBTQ+ experience, this diverse, global account explores the most important moments, movements and phenomena of LGBTQ+ history, celebrating victories and commemorating moments of tragedy and persecution.
• LBGTQ Events: This collection of essays chronicles important historical events that have identified, defined and legally established the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

Electronic Resources

University of Dayton login required.

• Archives of Sexuality and Gender: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century includes more than 5,000 rare and unique books covering sex, sexuality and gender issues across the sciences and humanities and throughout history.
• Archives of Sexuality and Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 presents primary sources that explore important aspects of LGBTQ+ life in the second half of the 20th century and beyond with material drawn from hundreds of institutions and organizations, including major international activist organizations and local grassroots groups.

• Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History offers an interdisciplinary approach to LGBTQ+ history through film, literature, human rights, politics, landmark legislation, activism, the arts, language, sports and historical events.

• LGBTQ+ Source provides scholarly and popular LGBTQ+ publications in full text, plus historically important primary sources including monographs, magazines and newspapers. It also includes a specialized LGBTQ+ thesaurus.

Visit the leisure reading display on the first floor of the Roesch Library during October to sample works from other historical and current LBGTQ+ authors.

— Josie Carpenter-Lewis is a sophomore English major and a student assistant in the University Libraries Office of the Dean.