Serving Our GLBTQ Customers (at the Library)

Serving Our GLBTQ Customers
presented by
Emily Lloyd
with panelists Brad Froslee,
Abby Henderson, and Ben Weiss

Who is included in the “GLBTQ Community”?

In the narrower sense, the GLBTQ* community refers to those who identify as gay,lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or queer/questioning.
*sometimes written LGBTQ

Sex = biological, physiological
Female = XX
Male = XY
Intersexed = neither XX nor XY
(approximately 1 in 1,666 births)
World champion runner and intersexed person Caster Semenya

Gender = “the socially-constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate.”
Can differ from culture to culture
Pink/blue, shaving/not shaving…
Socializing into gender begins at birth in most countries
It bothers many people not to be able to tell instantly what someone’s gender is (Why?)

More about the “T”
“Transsexual” usually refers to people who have undergone or are looking to undergo sex reassignment surgery
Transgender: broader term
Today: increasing number of people who are “out” as trans

More about the “Q”
“Queer” can also describe one's politics
“Queer”—with a few exceptions for usage—is no longer a slur

If a customer asks for “queer books” or the “queer section,” etc., staff should feel comfortable using the word “queer” with the customer.
Example: “We don’t have a queer section per se, but we do have some GLBTQ book lists I can show you.”

Can I just say “GLBT,” without the “Q”?People will still know what you mean, but many find it less welcoming and less inclusive.What's a “GBLT”?A bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich with guacamole

What percentage of the general population is GLBTQ?
A recent national study found that
8% of men identify as gay or bisexual, and
7% of womenidentify as lesbian or bisexual.

Top Ten U.S. Metropolitan Areas Ranked by the Estimated Percentage of Adults who areGay, Lesbian, or Bisexual*
1. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metro Area: 8.2% Largest City: 15.4%
2. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metro Area: 6.5% Largest City: 12.9%
3. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metro Area: 6.2% Largest City: 12.3%
4. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton Metro Area: 6.1% Largest City: 8.8%
5. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater Metro Area: 5.9% Largest City 6.1%
6. Austin-Round Rock Metro Area 5.9% Largest City: 4.8%
7. Denver-Aurora Metro Area: 5.8% Largest City: 8.2%
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
Metro Area: 5.7% Largest City: 12.5%
9. Orlando-Kissimmee Metro Area: 5.7% Largest City: 7.7%
10. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford Metro Area: 5.6% Largest City: 6.8%
There are currently “no concrete statistics on the number of transgender people in the U.S.” –Human Rights Campaign Fund, 2010

Twin Cities Pride festival third is third largest in U.S.
Benefits for MN public employees’ partners prohibited by state law (Statute 471.61)
GLBTQ-related hate crimes on the rise (+364% since 2006)
In Hennepin County, Edina and Minneapolis have domestic partner registries
Photo by Wendy Berry

When it comes to library (and other public) services, the broaderGLBTQ community includes:
children of GLBTQ parents,
parents of GLBTQ children,
heterosexual spouses of GLBTQ people who may be coming out later in life, and
anyone linked in a close way to a GLBTQ person and who may be seeking GLBTQ-related resources for reasons other than academic research.

For the first time, we have a sizable GLBTQ 55+ population who have spent their lives “out” as GLBTQ.
biggest issues for this group: health, community, finance

When providing services or programming to 55+ customers, don’t forget that this group includes GLBTQ people.
Remember when booktalking at senior centers or reviewing books for the At Home Reader
Remember when creating a financial or retirement-themed display
Remember when assessing your library’s collection needs, especially in health and financial planning

More GLBTQ people are coming out at a younger age.
Often told they can’t “know” yet
Harassment levels higher in middle school than high school
Why come out, if it’s dangerous? Being closeted is isolating.
New York Times Magazine, 9/23/09

More GLBTQ people are coming out later in life, too.
Many have been in straight marriages
Heterosexual spouses may be looking for
coping resources, as may adult children just now learning a parent is GLBTQ

Rise in GLBTQ Parenting
1990: 1 in 5 lesbian
and 1 in 20 gay male
couples raising children
2000: 1 in 3 lesbian
and 1 in 5 gay male
couples raising children
2010???

GLBTQs and the Library
Libraries have a long history as the place many people first seek information about being GLBTQ
Some now turn first to the web, but libraries remain an important source

Customers searching for GLBTQ materials may be less likely to ask a librarian for help
+
Catalog subject headings don’t make
GLBTQ materials easy to find
=
Findability issues

Results of catalog subject search on “transgender” :

Results of catalog subject search on “queer”:

As titles change far more quickly than subject headings, a title keyword search on “queer” with a limit to “Adult” yields much better results:

Book lists that are easy for customers to
find on their own are essential.

Staff should know by heart where to find the lists, too.

Picture books with GLBTQ content are often
cataloged and shelved with Children’s Fiction,
not Easy Fiction.
Browsers aren’t likely to find them.

To little kids in GLBTQ families, there is nothing “mature” or PG-rated about having two moms or dads.

How can we help people find these hard-to-find books?
That’s right: booklists again
Face-outs on the shelves—don’t be afraid to choose a GLBTQ book as a face-out
Displays (picture books about families, etc)

Yes, picture books that contain GLBTQ characters are often accused of “promoting” homosexuality.
It is important for libraries
to remember that…

Having an adequate, visible GLBTQ collection is not “promoting" homosexuality—it is serving our community.

You have more GLBTQ customers
than you think you do.
We have more GLBTQ resources
than GLBTQ customers think we do.

Programming/Outreach Ideas
GLBTQ Author Events (Adult, Teen)
Anti-Bullying Programming
Teen GLBTQ Book Club (Online?)
Storytimes for GLBTQ Families
Pride Month GLBTQ Poetry Reading (done in past at Central with Intermedia Arts)
Contact your local high school's/middle school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and offer to email book lists/come in and book talk
Pride Month Panel Discussion: GLBTQ Leaders of Different Faiths
JUNE is National GLBTQ Pride Month
OCTOBER is National GLBTQ History Month
OCTOBER 11th is
National Coming Out Day

Being a more visible GLBTQ community resource—things to consider:
HCL booth at Twin Cities Pride Festival
Safe Space stickers
Being visibly supportive as individuals working the desk (lanyard buttons, etc)

KNOW where resources are
in case anyone asks.
MAKE resources easy to find
in case nobody does.

“As a GLBTQ public library customer, I feel welcomed when…”
In emails to several local GLBTQ groups, I asked folks to complete the above sentence.
Here are some of the responses I got:

Customer:
“My family and I feel welcomed when a librarian refers to my child’s ‘parents’ rather than her ‘mom and dad’.”
Take away:
Always ask children where their “adult” is, rather than mother or father. Many families, not just GLBTQ ones, don’t include a mother and a father, so this is a preferred practice all around.

Customer: “I wish my local library carried more GLBTQ children's books. I seem to always need to request them from the two biggest branches.”Customer: “When there is a copy of a gay newspaper or magazine with the other newspapers and magazines.”

Take away:
Be mindful that there are GLBTQ customers at every one of HCL’s 41 libraries.
There is nothing obscure or esoteric about GLBTQ-related material.
While some libraries will necessarily have larger collections, every library should have “the basics.”

Customer:
“I feel welcomed when my gender expression is met with acceptance and appropriate pronouns.”
Trans etiquette:
If a person is clearly presenting herself as female, use female pronouns (and vice versa).
If you are introducing someone and are not certain which pronouns she or he would prefer, ask beforehand. (“Which pronoun do you prefer?” is fine)
If you make a mistake, apologize and remember for next time.

Customer:
“As a Bisexual Hmong woman, I would like my library to offer Hmong LGBTQ-specific material.”
Customer:
"I want to know if my local library offers resources for me as a gay person of color."
Takeaway:
One GLBTQ book or resource does not fit all.

Local Resources You can find these in the Diversity Toolbox on the Staff Web:

Are you prepared to answer the following reference questions on GLBTQ issues in Minnesota?
How do I get my gender changed on my birth certificate and Minnesota driver’s license?
What’s the history of efforts to pass same-sex marriage in Minnesota, and where do marriage rights in the state stand now?
What are some GLBTQ-friendly places of worship in Hennepin County?
Are there any job openings in local GLBTQ organizations?
What resources are there for GLBTQ parents in this area?

Yes.
OutFront
(outfront.org)
= top
resource
for local information

Other local organizations to know:
PFLAG (Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays)-- Twin Cities Chapter–meetings, resources, and active online social network (Ning)
Family Equality Council (Rainbow Families)–annual conference, camp, social events for GLBTQ families, school advocacy resources, book lists, etc.
District 202–organization for GLBTQ youth
Trans Youth Support Network
Avenues for Homeless Youth –includes GLBT Host Home Program
The Naming Project–faith-based organization for GLBTQ youth
Minnesota Transgender Health Coalition
Quatrefoil Library in St. Paul ("We're like your gay public library")
Out4Good (Minneapolis Public Schools)

Recommended Reading and Viewing
The Heterosexual Questionnaire
LGBT Elders Go Back into Closet to Survive
"It Gets Better" Project at YouTube
Jeff Sheng's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Photography Project
Assessing Agency GLBT Cultural Competence (from Every Family Matters)
Videos by Children of GLBTQ Parents (at COLAGE)

Thank you.
Questions?
elloyd@hclib.org

Sources
OutFront MN: Issue Paper on Employee Benefits
Long Invisible, Gay Seniors Seek Respect, Services (Newsweek)
"The School Issue: Coming Out in Middle School" (New York Times Magazine)
Women Coming Out Later in Life Finding More Acceptance (Star Tribune)
National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior
Middle School LGBT Students Face Extreme Levels of Harassment, Higher than Their High School Peers, Research Brief Finds (GLSEN)
Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population (Williams Institute)

Serving Our GLBTQ Customers (at the Library)

by elloyd74 on Nov 17, 2010

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Serving Our GLBTQ Customers (at the Library) — Presentation Transcript