LGBTQIA+ resources

Rare Books and Special Collections

Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC) contains a rich array of historical and contemporary queer treasures, including posters, pamphlets, newspapers, magazines, and books by prominent queer authors and advocacy organisations.

Queeriodicals

Browse periodical publications (newspapers, magazines, and newsletters) created by and for LGBTQIA+ people.

Cover of Camp Ink, Number 38, September 1976. Stylised image of a raised fist.

Special bequests

Simes

Gary Simes—linguistic historian, bibliographer and University of Sydney graduate—bequeathed a significant collection of LGBTQIA+ resources to RBSC. Highlights include Simes' own seminal works It was a riot: Sydney’s first Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and Bibliography of homosexuality: A research guide to the University of Sydney Library, both written in 1998.

Haire

Norman Haire was a University of Sydney graduate, sexologist, and prominent campaigner for sexual reform (including gay rights and birth control) throughout the early 20th century. His collection consists of his professional writings, correspondence, glass negatives, x-rays, publications, films, newspaper clippings.

 

Deane Erotica

Substantial queer materials can be found in the erotica collection of William H. Deane, the Rare Books and Special Collection Library's largest benefactor.

Heymanson

Sir Randolph Heymanson (1903-1984) was a journalist and editor of the Australian Newspapers Service, New York, from 1940 to 1969. The collection consists of erotica, including novels and illustrated books, mostly published prior to 1980. 

Tillet & French

Additional queer materials can be found in the Tillet & French collections. 

Digital collections

Some of the most precious LGBTQIA+ treasures from Rare Books and Special Collections have been digitised and made available via the Library’s Digital Collections.

Day of International Gay Solidarity poster

The first Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade was held on 24 June 1978 as part of the Day of International Gay Solidarity advertised on this poster. You can view the original poster in the RBSC Reading Room, or online via Digital Collections.

Honi Soit

The University of Sydney has a long and proud history of LGBTQIA+ support and activism. A key example is Honi Soit, the free weekly student newspaper, published since 1929 by the Students’ Representative Council (SRC). You can view editions of Honi Soit online or view physical copies in the RBSC Reading Room.

Haire-Hirschfeld correspondence

Norman Haire’s 1932 – 35 correspondence with German Jewish sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld—who founded the pioneering Institute for Sexual Science in 1919 and the World League for Sexual Reform in 1921—can be viewed online via Digital Collections.

The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf

In 2021, Virginia Woolf’s personal copy of her 1915 debut novel The Voyage Out was discovered in Rare Books and Special Collections. This unique edition includes the manuscript and typewritten edits that Woolf made for her US publisher and audience. You can view it online via Digital Collections or view the physical work in the RBSC Reading Room.

Poster for 1978 Day of International Gay Solidarity - the precursor to Mardi Gras. The poster features a prominent red butterfly.

Scholarly databases

The Library subscribes to scholarly databases dedicated to hosting primary and secondary resources relating to gender identity and sexuality. 

General collection

Call number ranges

The General Collection at Fisher Library contains a wealth of LGBTQIA+ fiction and nonfiction. Significant amounts of queer materials can be found under the following call number ranges. 

301 Sociology and anthropology
  • 301.415 Sex life outside of marriage
305 Groups of people
  • 305.3 People by gender or sex
  • 305.4 Women
  • 305.9 People by occupation and miscellaneous social statuses
306 Culture and institutions
  • 306.76 Sexual orientation, transgender identity, intersexuality
  • 306.77 Sexual and related practices
371 Schools and their activities
  • 371.8 Culture studies
700 The arts
  • 700.8 Groups of people
741 Drawing and drawings
  • 741.5 Comic books, graphic novels, fotonovelas, cartoons, caricatures, comic strips
770 Photography, computer art, cinematography, videography
  • 770.92 Biography
791 Public performances
  • 791.4 Motion pictures, radio, television, podcasting
808 Rhetoric and collections of literature
  • 808.81 Collections of poetry
  • 808.82 Collections of drama
809 History, description, and criticism
  • 809.3 Fiction
813 American fiction in English
  • 813.5 American fiction 1900 – 1999
  • 813.6 American fiction 2000 – present
823 English fiction
  • 823.9 English fiction 1900 – present

 

Selected highlights

The following selection (compiled by the Library's LGBTQIA+ Ally Group) includes seminal works of analysis like Judith Butler’s Gender trouble, classic literature by beloved authors such as James Baldwin and Virginia Woolf, and modern-day novels, memoirs, comics and essay collections.

  • Related information

    LGBTQIA+ community at the Library Pride Culture Club

  • Contact

    Email the Library's LGBTQIA+ Ally Group