Contemporary search strategies
The Contemporary Era is defined as 1991 to now. The Contemporary Era is also commonly referred to as the Information Age due to the influx of information every person is now exposed to because of the internet. When researching more recent historical events, it may be helpful to look through news databases or simply news websites to get current information. It seems like unproductive to include contemporary history but there have been plenty of events that have happened in this era that have had lasting effects and will continue to affect our world. Your search strategies can include any modern terms and will likely resemble the way you may search for news on a current issue.
Resources to check out
- Same-sex marriage now legal across U.S. Supreme Court's historic 5-4 vote invalidates bans of 13 conservative statesThis is a news article from the day that same sex marriage was legalized in the US. This article represents a moment in time and shows how people were feeling at the time. A drawback of the article is that it does not quote any lesbians, only gay men. The article is also from Canada so it gives a sort of outsider perspective.
- At Long Last, Onscreen Portrayals of Lesbian Relationships Are Getting ComplexThis article walks through a history of lesbian onscreen representation and praises how there are now more realistic and complex lesbian portrayals. Lesbian storytelling is finally allowing for stories to not focus on hardships or minimize the character's sexuality with stereotypes. I think this article should have addressed the need for more diversity in lesbian portrayals.
Moby Dyke by ISBN: 1797160869Publication Date: 2023-06-06Moby Dyke is a recent book that dives into the history into the lesbian bar culture and the decline of lesbian bars in the US. The book talks of how lesbian bars have been on the decline for decades and there are now just a handful of lesbian bars remaining. This book is nonfiction, but a drawback is that it is a very casual book and not the most reputable source.
- The Palestinian activists fighting for LGBTQ+ rights against a neverending backdrop of warThis article talks about a movement of LGBTQ people mobilizing in support of Palestine. The article talks about the establishment of the first ever organization for Palestinian lesbians. The drawback of this article is that it comes from a smaller news site, so it may be less reputable given that they are less established
This video acts as a really great introduction into the issue of banned books.Banned books has been an increasingly prevalent issue in the past few years. LGBT books have been at the forefront of this issue with the majority of banned and challenged books having queer themes. One of the drawbacks of this video is that it is rather short so it does not get the chance to go in depth.