Getting Started with Gender-Inclusive Cataloging
Best Practices for Trans and Gender Diverse Resources
K.R. Roberto, Ph.D. (he/they)
March 27, 2024
About me
Where it first hit me
Gender identity--Literary collections.
Gays’ writings, American.
Subject headings in current record
OCLC English-language headings
Gay people’s writings, American.
Gender identity.
Literary collections.
Literature.
LGBTQ+ people. [probably from Homosaurus]
Sexual minorities’ writings, American.
LC headings
Homosexuality.
Lesbians--Identity.
Gender identity.
Queer theory.
Subject classification
LCSH & Homosaurus
Hidden hierarchies
Authorized access point/terminology/heading
Variant terms
Related concepts
Scope notes
Basic facts about the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH)
Library of Congress started assigning subject headings in the 1890s
First edition of Subject Headings Used in the Dictionary Catalogues of the Library of Congress (later known as Library of Congress Subject Headings) began publication in 1909
Initially to reflect LC’s own collection
Widespread use in English-language libraryland makes it “a device of cultural authority” (Hope Olson)
A brief history of trans headings
Transsexualism
Transsexuals
Transvestites*
Female impersonators
Male impersonators
Adjacent terms:
A brief aside about that last aside
Sexual minorities is LC talk for LGBTQ/LGBT/GLBT/GLBTQ people, all of which are variant terms
A close reading of Gender identity
(SOME OF THE) NARROWER TERMS
RELATED TERMS (“SEE ALSO”)
Cisgender people (2016) aren’t here at all, and neither are Sexual minorities
Contemporary trans lives in LCSH
Transgender people
May 2007
Two-spirit people removed as narrower term under Transvestites
ca. 2007-2008
Gender nonconformity & Gender-nonconforming people
2017
Cross-dressers
2018
Minority transgender women
2020
Drag queens & Drag kings authorized
2021
The story of Transgender people, or, Who trans people get to be
NARROWER TERMS
Christian transgender people (2007)
Church work with transgender people (2007)
Jewish transgender people (2009)
Libraries and transgender people (2007)
Libraries—Special collections—Transgender people (2021)
Older transgender people (2018)
Social work with transgender people (2007)
Transgender men (2018)
Transgender women (2018)
Transsexuals (1985)
BROADER TERMS
Persons
No links to Sexual minorities or Cisgender people
Sexual minorities
Life outside the binary
Gender-nonconforming people
Variant terms include:
Gender-creative people
Gender-independent people
Gender-non-normative people
Genderqueer people
Non-binary people
Broader term is Persons (no, not Transgender people and of course not Sexual minorities)
Gender nonconformity
Here are entered works on the various manifestations of cross-gender orientation, such as cross-dressing, transsexualism, male or female impersonation, intersexuality, etc., treated collectively.
Gender nonconformity is trans, but Gender-nonconforming people are not�
Drag in LCSH
Drag queens
“Here are entered works on entertainers, especially men, who perform with over-the-top female clothing and exaggerated mannerisms. Works on men who dress as women for the purpose of playing a theatrical role, as a disguise, or as a humorous or political statement are entered under Female impersonators. Works on persons who assume a dress and manner not generally associated with their gender for psychological gratification are entered under Cross-dressers.”
[Drag kings has the same scope note with the genders swapped]
Drag queens vs. Female impersonators: a checklist
Drag queens
Female impersonators
Some recommended LC headings
Children of transgender parents (2007)
Cisgender people (2016)
Gender-neutral toilet facilities (2015)
Gender-nonconforming children (2019)
Social work with transgender youth (2007)
Transgender Day of Remembrance (2017)
Transgender librarians (2007)
Transmisogyny (2024)
Homosaurus
Developed in 1993 by merger of University of Amsterdam’s Homodok archive and the Anna Blaman Huis collection (now called IHLIA LGBTI Heritage); Jack van der Wel and Ellen Greenblatt debuted English-language version in 2013
Implemented by the Digital Transgender Archive in 2015; editorial board created in 2016
Public linked data vocabulary as of Version 2 (2019)
Agender people; Hormone blockers; Lateral transphobia; Non-binary neurodivergent people; Tucking
The Slurs category
Description: Insulting or discriminating remarks, innuendos, or names intended to demoralize a person, typically by disparaging that person's identity or social group. Generally, for a term to be considered a slur, it must be derogatory towards a particular person or group, it must be used to subordinate them within some structure of power relations, and the derogated person or group must be defined by an intrinsic property such as their race, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. This category includes terms considered slurs at any point in their usage. Therefore, some of these terms may no longer be considered universally derogatory, may be in common usage, or may be selectively reclaimed by certain groups.
The slurs themselves
RELATED TERMS
NARROWER TERMS
Agi
Ali
Bading
Bakla
Bantut
Bayot
Berdache
Chakka
Dykes
Faggots
Fairies (Gay culture)
Khteuy
Non-Euro-American Gender and Sexual Identities
Definition:
Broad term describing gender and sexual identities specific to regions outside of North America and Europe.
Non-Euro-American Gender and Sexual Identities
Narrower terms [excerpt]
Power and praxis
Working around LCSH, in order of (relative) ease & retention possibility:
Who draws what lines?
Numeric classification
LC & Dewey numbers
Current DDC numbers for trans lives
300 Social sciences
306 Culture and institutions
306.7 Sexual relations
306.76 Sexual orientation, transgender identity, intersexuality
306.768 Transgender identity and intersexuality
“Including female-to-male transgender people, male-to-female transgender people; hijras […] gender nonconformity, transsexuality; gender nonconforming people, transgender people, transsexuals”
Crossdressing in DDC
306.7 Sexual relations
306.77 Sexual and related practices
306.771 Pornography
306.772 Masturbation
306.773 Group sex
306.774 Oral sex
306.775 Sadism
306.776 Masochism
306.777 Fetishism
306.778 Transvestism
“Class here cross dressing
Class female impersonation, male impersonation in 792.028”
792.028 Acting and performance
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LC Classification
HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
HQ12-449 Sexual life
HQ73-77.965 Sexual minorities. LGBTQ people. Queer people
[HQ73.8-.85 Gender nonconformity]
HQ74-74.9 Bisexuality
HQ75-76.965 Homosexuality. Lesbianism
HQ76.97-77.2 Cross-dressing. Transvestism
HQ77.7-.965 Transsexualism. Transgenderism
Breaking it down further
HQ77.93
HQ77.94.S48
HQ77.96
Special topics, A-Z in LC Classification is always a good source of textual analysis
Drama—Special types—Vaudeville. Varieties—Special topics, A-Z
PN1969.C65 Comedy acts. Stand-up comedy
PN1969.D73 Drag shows. Drag performance
PN1969.H85 Human body
PN1969.M5 Minstrel shows
Description and access
Naming is power
The name game
Respect self-identification
One practice you can start immediately
Don’t want to misgender someone? Bracket their chosen name
Testo junkie : sex, drugs, and biopolitics in the pharmacopornographic era / [Paul B.] Preciado
The last time I wore a dress / [Dylan] Scholinski
Ich, Anderson Bigode / [Anderson] Herzer
Revolting librarians redux : radical librarians speak out / edited by [K.R.] Roberto and Jessamyn West
Not just personal names
“There are literally tens of thousands of people who have heard of my book but haven’t read it, and for whom George is the only name they have for Melissa. People who have gotten yet another cue, this time from a nonbinary writer who advocates for LGBTQIAP+ youth of all places, that a trans girl ‘starts out as a boy’.”—Alex Gino
Access points for trans creators
Authorized form of person’s name
Variant forms
Associated places
Occupation
Gender
Works cited
The most common ways to traumatize trans people in their authority records
Deadnaming in variant forms of name
Explicitly outing them as trans
Misgendering people
Real-life examples
[Warning: Upsetting name references and misgendering follow. Here is one of my cats complaining about it.]
Two kinds of deadnaming
Authorized form of name: Scholinski, Daphne
Variant name: Scholinski, Dylan
Works cited: The last time I wore a dress, 1997: title page (Daphne Scholinski)
Artist website, January 16, 2019: (Dylan Scholinski was born Daphne Scholinski. Dylan resides in Denver, Co. and is a distinguished artist, author and public speaker)
Authorized form of name: Jaquays, Paul
Authorized form as found in DNB (via VIAF): Jaquays, Jennell, 1956-2024
…and the rest of the unknowable number of people who transitioned after their authority record was created
500 __ $a Agency removed by cataloger.
Authorized form of name: Herzer, Sandra Mara, 1962-1982
Variant name: Herzer, Anderson, 1962-1982
Work cited: Her Ich, Anderson Bigode, 1990 […] (occasionally identified herself as a male; some poems signed Anderson Herzer)
Authorized form of name: Huxtable, Juliana, 1987-
Biographical note: Juliana Huxtable (1987- ) is an interdisciplinary artist and writer living in New York City, working with themes of identity, the body, fashion, and countercultures, among others. She was born intersex, and began her transition after college.
Inconsistent gendering
Authorized form of name: Vaid-Menon, Alok
Field of activity: Transgender people [?]
Gender: male
Work cited: Their website, viewed Jan. 4, 2023
Authorized form of name: Gillman, Melanie
Gender: Women
Work cited: Wikipedia website, Nov. 15, 2017 (Melanie Gillman; American queer non-binary cartoonist, illustrator, lecturer)
Multiple issues
Authorized form of name: Morris, Jan, 1926-2020
Gender: Males 1926-1972
Females 1972-
Variant name: Morris, James Humphrey, 1926-2020
Authorized form of name: Yang, Neon
Gender: Gender minorities
Variant name(s): Yang, J. Y. Neon
Yang, J. Y. Neon
Yang, June
A positive note (and a caveat)
Current NACO/PCC recommendations:
Ideas
Thoughts and resources
Complex questions
When we talk about “access,” what do we mean?
When we talk about “users,” who do we mean?
Does all trans knowledge need to be shared?
Not always a consensus
Reconciling cataloging ethics with syndetic structures is incredibly difficult!
Some useful resources
COLLABORATION
Trans Metadata Collective. Metadata Best Practices for Trans and Gender Diverse Resources.
NACO Gender and Sexuality Funnel
BACKGROUND READING
Equitable Knowledge Organization/Queer KO
“Gender Variance and Transgender Identities.” In Ethical Questions in Name Authority Control, edited by Jane Sandberg. Sacramento, CA: Library Juice Press, 2019.
Thank you!