LGBTQ+ Studies at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library

The Clark Library collects scientific books from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which pathologize homosexuality and other sexual identities. Some texts describe homosexuality as an aberrant psychological condition and a marker of deviance, but others insist upon acceptance of homosexuality. Homosexuality remained pathologized in the United States for many decades. The American Psychiatric Association categorized homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) until its members voted to declassify it as such in 1973. The following is a sampling of the collection:

• Raffalovich, André. [Collection of Extracts and Offprints of Articles, Mainly from Annales de l’unisexualité and Archives d’anthropologie Criminelle, de Criminologie et de Psychologie Normale et Pathologique]. Paris: 1897–1907. Clark Library Rare Book Stacks; PR5828 .R13 *: André Raffalovich (1864–1934) wrote about homosexuality as a natural orientation, yet maintained that gay people should not engage in physical same-sex behavior. He criticized Wilde and was dedicated to the Catholic Church. 
• Symonds, John Addington. A Problem in Modern Ethics: Being an Inquiry into the Phenomenon of Sexual Inversion, Addressed Especially to Medical Psychologists and Jurists. London: [Leonard Smithers], 1896. Clark Library Rare Book Stacks; PR5522.P961 1896 *: John Addington Symonds (1840–1893) was an English writer known for his prose and poetry relating to Renaissance Italy and homosexuality. Symmonds proposed acceptance of same-sex relationships between men in A Problem in Modern Ethics.

To find books related to modern studies of homosexuality and classifications of sexuality at the Clark Library go to UC Library Search. Click on “Advanced Search,” select the “Subject” field, and type either “Homosexuality” or “Homosexualité.” To find works by specific authors, select the “Author” field and type “Raffalovich, André, 1864–1934,” for example. You can also do a keyword search either in the simple search or in the “Any field" field of the “Advanced Search.” Once you have search results, you can limit to the Clark Library by selecting it from the “UCLA Locations” facet.