Subject headings are part of a controlled vocabulary specific to a particular set of databases or library catalogs. Subject headings don't always match the language/terminology we would use in everyday speech.

A subject heading is only assigned to an item (that is, a book or article) when the item is specifically about that subject. For example, books with "Marriage" in their subject heading are mainly and specifically on the topic of Marriage. Thus, subject headings can narrow your search if your results are too broad.

Keywords are simply words that can appear anywhere in the title, subject heading, abstract, or even full text of the article. If you search Marriage as a keyword, then you can locate books that mention marriage on a single page or have a short chapter addressing Marriage.

You can also combine keywords and subject headings in the advanced search in any database to narrow or broaden your results.

Use these select subject headings to focus your catalog search and to browse to find related titles. Our catalog uses Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which may or may not reflect the current preferred language used in queer studies.

• Asexual People
• Asexuality, sexual orientation
• Bisexual (as an adjective) [add in a term or country to get more specific]
  • bisexual men
  • bisexual college students
  • bisexual women China OR China bisexual women
• Bisexuals (As a Community) [add countries, major cities, or states to specify location]
  • bisexuals Japan
  • bisexuals Alabama
• Coming Out, Sexual Orientation
• Cross-Dressing ["assuming a dress and manner not generally associated with one's gender for psychological gratification"]
• Drag Shows [use Female Impersonators or Male Impersonators to find books on Drag Queens & Kings]
• Female Impersonators is used instead of Drag Queens
• Female-to-Male Transsexuals is used instead of trans men, FTM, transmen or transgender men
• Gay (as an adjective) [add in a term or country to get more specific]
  • Gay college students
  • gay athletes
  • China gay
• Gays (As a community) [add countries, major cities, or states to specify location]
  • gays Singapore
• Gay and Lesbian Studies is used instead of Queer Studies
• Gay Liberation Movement
• Gay Rights
• Gender Identity ["Here are entered works on a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female."]
• Gender Expression
• 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 Reassignment Surgery ["Here are entered works on the surgical alteration of a person's biological sex characteristics"}
• Heterosexism ["Works on prejudicial attitudes or assumptions held by heterosexuals concerning homosexuals or homosexuality as well as works on the presumption that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexuality is the only normal sexual orientation"]
• Homophobia
• Homosexuality [add in a term or country to get more specific]
• Intersex (as an adjective)
• Lesbian [add in a term to get more specific]
  • lesbian college students
  • lesbian athletes
• Lesbians (As a community) [add countries, major cities, or states to specify location]
  • Lesbians South Africa
  • Lesbians Nevada Reno
• Male Impersonators is used instead of Drag Kings
• Male-to-Female Transsexuals is used instead of trans women, MTF, transwomen, or transgender women
• Non-Binary People (use Gender Nonconforming people instead)
• Queer Cinema
• Queer Theory
• Same Sex Marriage
• Sex change
• Sex Role ["Works on the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to masculinity or femininity as determined by prevailing cultural norms"]
• Sexual Minorities
• Sexual Orientation
• Transgender (as an adjective) [add a term or subject to specify]
  • transgender artists
  • transgender youth
• Transgender People (As a Community) [add countries, major cities, or states to specify location]
  • transgender people Indiana
  • transgender people New Zealand
• Transgenderism (use Gender Nonconformity instead)
• Transsexuals ["Here are entered works on individuals whose gender identity does not match their physical sexual characteristics, and who usually undergo an anatomical sex change"]
• Transvestism (use Cross-Dressing instead)
• Two-Spirit People

Most article databases prior to 2006 primarily used the subject term "homosexual" or "homosexuality" to refer to LGBTQ populations. EBSCO databases tend to have the most extensive subject thesaurus, but may not have updated the subject terms in older articles. If the material you are searching is historical, you will likely need to use the term "homosexual" in addition to your other keywords.

When searching for material on trans populations, it is sometimes helpful to search "transgender" or "transsexual" in the subject terms--not as keywords. Transgender often comes up as part of the "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer" phrase when you use it as a keyword, and can lead to a lot of unrelated articles in your results.