LGBTQ+ Archives, Libraries, Research Centers, and Special Collections – United States

CenterLink was founded in 1994 as a member-based coalition to support the development of strong, sustainable LGBT community centers. The organization plays an important role in supporting the growth of LGBT centers and addressing the challenges they face, by helping them to improve their organizational and service delivery capacity and increase access to public resources. You can find local centers through their member directory.

Arizona

• The Arizona Queer Archives in Tucson is the state of Arizona’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI) collecting archives of the Institute for LGBT Studies at the University of Arizona.
• The University of Arizona Institute for LGBT Studies in Tucson promotes LGBTQ research, curricula and public programming.

California

• The Center for Sex & Culture Library and Archive in San Francisco is unique in its dedication to collecting and preserving information about sex as we have known it, do know it, and continue to learn about it, worldwide.
• The GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco collects, preserves, exhibits and makes accessible to the public materials and knowledge to support and promote understanding of LGBTQ history, culture and arts in all their diversity.
• The James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center is the gateway to the Library’s broader collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual and allies’ history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area.
• The June L. Mazer Archives in West Hollywood is the largest major archive on the West Coast dedicated to preserving and promoting lesbian and feminist history and culture.
• ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries is the largest repository of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) materials in the world.

Colorado

• Since 1992 Out Boulder County has educated, advocated and provided services, programs and support to Boulder County’s LGBTQ communities.

Florida

• Stonewall National Museum & Archives in Fort Lauderdale promotes understanding through preserving and sharing the proud culture of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their significant role in American society.
• The University of South Florida Libraries’ Special Collections department is determined to expand its collection of historically significant lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) materials in monographic, audio-visual, ephemeral, and archival formats. Collections include Queer Literature, Asian Male Nudes, Gay Surfers, Edith Daly/ Women’s Energy Bank, Equality Florida, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and more.

Illinois

• Gerber/Hart Library and Archives in Chicago was founded in 1981 to be a depository for the records of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) individuals and organizations, and for other resources bearing upon their lives and experiences in American society.
• The Leather Archives & Museum in Chicago is dedicated to the compilation, preservation, and maintenance of leather, kink, and fetish lifestyles.

Indiana

• The Chris Gonzalez Library & Archives is located in the Indy Pride Office Building and contains items of interest to the community (i.e., back issues of LGBT publications, video tapes of local LGBT events, t-shirt, memorabilia, photos, art work).
• The Kinsey Institute Collections at Indiana University encompass print materials, film and video, fine art, artifacts, photography, and archives about human sexuality and relationships. The Institute has collected publications, objects, art, and data from six continents. Its holding span more than 2,000 years of human history, and run the gamut of technologies—from ink on paper, to microforms and CD-ROMs.

Massachusetts

• The mission of The History Project: Documenting LGBTQ Boston is to document and preserve the history of Boston’s LGBT community, and to share that information with the public.

Michigan

• Affirmations is the center for LGBT activities throughout the Detroit community. In keeping with its vision, Affirmations is the hub of the community, celebrating wellness, personal growth and development, centered in a state-of-the-art, multi-use facility that is financially secure.

Minnesota

• The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis houses over 3,000 linear feet of material about the GLBT experience. It includes published material, organizational records, personal manuscripts, informational files, films, music, textiles, posters, and other items. They also have a Transgender Oral History Project.

New York

• The Black Gay and Lesbian Archive is located in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at The New York Public Library.
• Gay and Lesbian Studies at the New York Public Library
• The Lesbian Herstory Archives in Brooklyn is home to the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities.
• The Leslie-Lohman Museum is the only dedicated art museum in the world to exhibit and preserve artwork that speaks about the LGBTQ experience.
• LGBT materials in the New York Public Library

North Carolina

• LGBT Center of Raleigh Library

Oregon

• The Feminist and Lesbian Periodical Collection located at the University of Oregon contains 482 lesbian and feminist periodical titles including 36 Oregon titles and 31 international titles. Approximately 80 percent of the entire collection contains titles published during the 1970s.

Texas

• The Transgender Foundation of America’s (TFA) archive of transgender history and research library is the beating heart of the transgender center located in Houston, Texas.

Washington

• Entre Hermanos is dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of the Latino Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and questioning community in a culturally appropriate environment through disease prevention, education, support services, advocacy and community building.
• Based in Seattle, Gay City promotes wellness in LGBTQ communities by providing health services, connecting people to resources, fostering arts, and building community.
• Based in Washington, GLEAM is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employee resource group at Microsoft.
• Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) and Allied business and professional chamber of commerce, proudly serving the community since 1981.
• Q Center at the University of Washington is a fierce primarily student-run resource center dedicated to serving anyone with or without a gender or sexuality: UW students, staff, faculty, alum, and community members.
• Three Dollar Bill Cinema strengthens, connects, and reflects diverse communities through queer film and media. They provide access to films by, for, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, and a forum for LGBT filmmakers to share and discuss their work with audiences in the greater Seattle area.

Wisconsin

• The Earl Greely Memorial Library, housed at OutReach in Madison, is one of the largest and most extensive LGBT libraries in the Midwest.
• The Gender and Sexuality Campus Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison provides education, outreach, advocacy, and resources for UW-Madison student communities and their allies to improve campus climate and their daily intersectional experiences.
• The LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin is an open affirming environment for people of all sexual orientations and gender identity expressions. They provide support, education, resources and advocacy to achieve a stronger and healthier world for all LGBTQ+ people and allies.
• The vision of OutReach LGBT Community Center, located in Madison, is to create a community where the presence and contributions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people are welcomed and celebrated; where intolerance is challenged and defeated; where justice prevails; and where civil rights of all people are valued and respected.
• The mission of the Pride Center at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse is to foster a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff, educate the campus and community on issues, and advocate for student success and inclusivity.
• The Wisconsin LGBT History Project chronicles the history of the GLBT community in Milwaukee and Wisconsin.