Welcome to the Lesbian Resource Guide @ UIS. This is a guide to help lesbians at UIS to find the resources they may need. We want to make sure that queer women at UIS are able to find support on this campus. One of the ways we can do this is to find online and print resources that are relevant to lesbians whether that be resources about coming out, fashion, health, or finding a book for class. The Lesbian Resource Guide is a living document which means that we are open to suggestions for other resources that we might have missed. If you would like to leave a resource suggestion please email us at gss@uis.edu

Lesbian is a term used to describe female-identified people attracted romantically, erotically, spiritually, and/or emotionally to other female-identified people. The term lesbian is derived from the name of the Greek island of Lesbos and as such is sometimes considered a Eurocentric category that does not necessarily represent the identities of African-Americans and other non-European ethnic groups. This being said, individual female-identified people from diverse ethnic groups, including African-Americans, embrace the term ‘lesbian’ as an identity label.

Online Resources

I Think I Might Be A Lesbian, Now What Do I Do?
An online brochure from Advocates for Youth.

Elderly Lesbians
Old Lesbians Organizing for Change works to combat ageism in the LGBTQ community by social networking with lesbians age 60 and over

Fashion
All Women Stalk is a lesbian fashion blog.

Illinois Gay Wedding
This is a website that provides resources for Illinois same sex couples who want to get married or have a commitment ceremony.

Lesbian Chicago
The L Stop is an online resource for Chicago’s lesbian community that has article with a wide range of topics.

Lesbian Stereotypes
Here is a Huffington Post article that analyses some lesbian stereotypes and explains why they are problematic.

Here is a list of popular lesbian stereotypes from the feminist website Jezebel.

Pop Culture and Special Interests

After Ellen is a website that is devote to lesbian pop culture, entertainment, and celebrities.

Autostraddle is a website that talks about LBTQIA women and a wide range of topics from food/DIY, politics, feminism, gender, technology, and others.

Queer Disabled Dating
This is an article that talks about the intersectionality of disability and queerness when dating.

Jewish LGBT Resources
This is a website to learn more about the Jewish faith and it contains LGBTQ resources.

State Rights

Lambda Legal
This is an interactive map that shows which states have marriage equality and workplace protections for LGBTQ people.

Books from Lending Library

Learn more about our lending library.

• Nine Nights on the Windy Tree
• The Girls’ Next Door
• The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
• Rubyfruit Jungle
• Choices
• An Emergence of Green
• Well of Loneliness
• Desert of the Heart
• Sex and Other Sacred Games: Love, Desire, Passion, and Possession
• Aya The Secrets Come Out: Volume 3
• Worlds Apart: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Science Fiction and Fantasy
• The Lesbian Primer
• Lesbian Teachers: An Invisible Presence
• Invisible Lives
• Dyke Life
• Lesbian Studies Present and Future
• What a Lesbian Looks Like: Writings by Lesbians on their Lives and Lifestyle
• Journal of Lesbian Studies
• Lesbian Woman
• Sappho Was A Right-On Woman
• Woman+ Woman
• Sisters, Sexperts, Queers
• The Lesbian Path
• A Restricted Country
• Loving Boldly: Issues Facing Lesbians
• Sunday’s Women
• Lesbian Culture: An Anthology
• Lesbian Texts and Contexts
• Lesbian Subjects
• Lesbian, Women & Society
• Butch/femme
• Inventing Lesbian Cultures in America
• Lesbian Ethics
• NWSA Lesbian Issue
• Call Me Lesbian
• The Lesbian Issue
• Lesbian Philosophy: Explorations
• Lesbian Psychologies
• Making A Way: Lesbians Out Front
• Lesbian Quotations
• My Lesbian Husband
• Lesbian (Out)Law
• Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold
• Lesbian Passion: Loving Ourselves and Each Other
• Lesbians Over 60 Speak for Themselves
• The Joy of Lesbian Sex
• Lesbian Sex
• The Lesbian Community
• Surpassing the Love of Men
• Ceremonies of the Heart
• This is What Lesbian Looks Like
• Looking Like What You Are: Sexual Style, Race, and Lesbian Identity
• My American History
• Dyke Ideas
• The Femme Mystique
• Lesbian Couples
• The Lesbian Family Life Cycle
• Of Woman Born
• Surface Tension
• Boston Marriages
• We Say We Love Each Other
• And Say Hi to Joyce
• Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers
• Why Can’t Sharon Kowalski Come Home?
• Politics of the Heart: A Lesbian Parenting Anthology

Lesbians in History

These lesbians can be found in the Gender and Sexuality Student Services’ History Display.

1. Willa Cather is an American writer who is best known for her novels “O Pioneers!” and “My Antonia.”
2. Bessie Smith is an American blues singer who is known for her recording “Downhearted Blues.”
3. Virginia Wolfe is a British writer who helped create the Hogarth Press and two of her novels are “Orlando” and “Mrs. Dalloway.”
4. Audre Lord is an American poet and served as the Poet Laureate of New York from 1990-1991.
5. Barbara Jordan is an American politician who served in the senate and gave a speech in support for the resignation of President Nixon.-
6. Eleanor Roosevelt is an American reformer, diplomat, and writer. Some of her accomplishments include participating in the League of Women’s Voters, and the Women’s Trade Union League.

Frequently Asked Questions at UIS

Have a question to add or ask please write us at gss@uis.edu.