Library Guides: Pride @ Centennial Libraries: Start Here

Music

From OutHistory: "Unique in pre-Stonewall American history is an assertive song of lesbian self-affirmation and defiance, "Prove It on Me Blues." Written, performed, and recorded in 1928 by the famous early blues singer Ma Rainey, this extraordinary song of resistance features a woman-loving woman who proclaims her sexual interest in other women and challenges the world to "prove it on me.""

Up Above My Head by Sister Rosetta Tharpe

From Queer, Black & Blue: Sister Rosetta Tharpe Is Muva Of Them All by Erin White: "Rock-n-Roll was invented by a queer Black woman born in 1915 Arkansas. Your disordered hardcore punk rock was sanctioned by a kinky-haired Black girl born to two cotton pickers in the Jim Crow South. The electric guitar was first played in ways very few people could have ever imagined by a woman who wasn’t even allowed to play at music venues around the country."

Discover more streaming music options through Music Online!

Video playlists

National Film Board (NFB) LGBTQ2+
Featuring a wide range of stories about identity, family, community and everyday life, this selection of films explores the multitude of LGBTQIA2+ realities and experiences in Canada and abroad.
CBC Curio: The LGBTQ+ Experience in Canada
From the court battles of the past to the growing awareness of gender identity issues today, the stories in this collection highlight some of the challenges and realities within LGBTQ+ communities in Canada today.
Can-Core: Pride
Documentaries, TV series, and news segments about 2SLGBTQQIA+ people from Can-Core.
Kanopy LGBT Studies Collection
Kanopy Gender Studies Collection

Journals & Magazines

Centennial College Libraries subscribes to hundreds of periodicals. Check out some below or check out our journal search to find more.

Photo by Justin Luca Krause on Unsplash

Attribution

This guide was created by School of English and Liberal Studies librarian, Stephanie Power, in collaboration with Centennial College's Queering Community Student Collective. If you have any questions, concerns, or recommendations, contact spower@centennialcollege.ca.

Non-Fiction

Fiction

Biography & Memoir

To find more books...

Figuring out the right keywords to use to find what you're looking for can be difficult! Try these "subject terms" to get started. Click "Preview" under any item in the library database to view additional terms.

Podcasts

All My Relations: Indigiqueer
"We join forces with two amazing Indigenous writers and scholars who are making waves in the literary scene with their poetry, prose, and fiction. They weave words and worlds to help us see and understand queer indigenous identities and bodies, the ways that settler colonialism has disrupted and distorted our relationships, and the power of asserting voice in spaces not meant for us."
Disability After Dark: "I Feel Like I Had to Come Out Twice"
"In episode 290, I sit down with content creator Spencer West as we talk about everything from disability to why Teddy Ruxpin is a homosexual. We talk candidly about ableism and accessibility within the queer community, and it felt really awesome to have a conversation about all the things regarding disability with Spencer."
Queer Collective Podcast: First QUEER Loves, Breakups, and Heartbreak
"Queer identity is heard enough. Now to bring queer relationships into the mix can be confusing, thrilling, exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time. This week Emily and Karbon talk about their first queer relationships, how it differs from straight relationships, and how their first queer loves were the most intense breakups."
Buddies in Bad Times Youth/Elders Podcast: I'm Still Here
"Zaddies? Elders? Hot mamas? A roundtable of five queers discuss desire, race, (in)visibility, and access as they age. Co-hosts leZlie lee kam and Rhoma Spencer are joined by Debbie Douglas, Canute Lawrence and Carol Thames for a lively discussion about navigating ageism in queer spaces and beyond."

Someone Like Me (2021) available via National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Someone Like Me follows the parallel journeys of Drake, a gay asylum seeker from Uganda, and a group of strangers from Vancouver’s queer community who are tasked with supporting his resettlement in Canada. Together, they embark on a year-long quest for personal freedom, revealing how in a world where one must constantly fight for the right to exist, survival itself becomes a victory.

I Am Gay (2020) available via National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
After working abroad for five years, filmmaker Ajahnis Charley returns home to Oshawa, Ontario, in the age of quarantine. In addition to reuniting with his family, he returns with a mission to share some deep personal truths.

Paris is Burning (1990) available via Kanopy
This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag-ball scene.

Ahead Of The Curve (2020) available via Alexander Street
With a fist full of credit cards, a lucky run at the horse track, and chutzpah for days, Franco Stevens launched Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine ever published. The film tracks the power of lesbian visibility and community from the early ‘90s to the present day through the story of Franco’s founding of Curve magazine.

Woman Dress (2019) available via National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
Pre-contact, a Two Spirit person named Woman Dress travels the Plains, gathering and sharing stories. Featuring archival images and dramatized re-enactments, this film shares a Cuthand family oral story, honouring and respecting Woman Dress without imposing colonial binaries on them.