Difference between revisions of "Welcome to QueerBio.com"

DID YOU KNOW?

The LGBTQ Food and Farming Community

The LGBTQ food and farming community consists of the farmers themselves, along with government ministers, advocates, food critics and commentators. It is an important and common segment to all countries and has deep historical roots. Yet it is also a segment that is often neglected in today's urban society. The Williams Institute reports that 10% of all same sex couples live in rural areas, and they tend to have lower incomes than straight rural couples.

According to a study on queer farmers (see Wiley link below), queer people are largely ignored as potential farmers by the agriculture and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer movements, and the profession has embedded discrimination in terms of farmer recruitment, retention, and land acquisition. However, those who are in the field state that they face less discrimination once in the profession than they anticipated, though there remains issues of isolation and loneliness for many LGBTQ farmers.

The Queer Farmer Film Project in the United States looks at the experiences of queer farmers across the country and asks – what does it mean to be a queer farmer, is agriculture a safe space for queer people, and what are the relationships between food production and queerness? They produced the 2013 docuemntary film 'Out Here' featuring their answers. Similarly, a segment on the BBC show Countryfile investigated the high suicide rates among gay farmers in that country – and the stigma that is still rife in rural communities.

Agrespect, a UK-based resource for the country's LGBTQ farming community, was created directly as a result of the Countryfile findings. Gay Farmer Helpline in the U.K. has also been created to offer help and advice to farmers. In the United States, the Cultivating Change Foundation has been established to advocate, work on education, and support the LGBTQ farming community - they have a regular conference that attracts hundreds of participants.

Several LGBTQ individuals have played prominent roles in their country's agricultural industry as government ministers. Some are responsible for considerable media production on issues important to the profession, such as the Food Network in the United States. Others are well know food and wine critics, including Craig Claiborne of the New York Times and Yotam Ottolenghi of The Guardian.

We have found prominent LGBTQ members of the food and farming community in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands and the United States. To read more and see the complete list CLICK HERE

Directory of past 'Did You Know?' Articles See Here

The goal of QueerBio.com is to be the definitive online biographical reference source for the international LGBTQ community. Its database lists over 15,000 contemporary and historical figures who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit, or gender fluid (LGBTQ) and includes artists, sports figures, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, academics, activists, and more. The database is widely international in scope and is an ideal source for research and analysis with full search and sort functionality.

The mission is to inspire, educate, and motivate all generations of LGBTQ individuals and others through a collective knowledge of this international community.

Managing Editors: Mark S. Bonham, Connie Bonello, Gordon Dunbar

Search for a Biography

To search for an individual from the database of over 15,000 biographies, simply type the name in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO.

Alternatively, you can view and scroll through the entire list of biographies by viewing the All Biographies section.

To search for LGBTQ individuals with a common characteristic (examples: all Nobel Prize winners, all Writers, all Politicians, all Tony Award winners, all Olympic Gold medal winners, all individuals of a specific nationality) simply type the characteristic in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO. Results of your search will be displayed alphabetically by Last Name. A second Search Box will be displayed for you to search within the database of individuals with that common characteristic.

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Bonham Centre Awards Gala

Annual Awards established in 2007 to recognize individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Click here to find out more about the Bonham Centre Awards, past recipients, and present nominees.

Books Available From QueerBio.Com

New books available

A Path to Diversity: LGBTQ Participation in the Working World (Mark S. Bonham, 2017) investigates the current state of employment markets around the world for the LGBTQ community. Included is a discussion of equality in the workplace and why it is important to both the employer and employee, the wage gap, which professions are attractive to LGBTQ individuals and why, and the role of unions and government legislation. A survey of seventy five professions provides a status report for each, and seventy two biographies of influential LGBTQ professionals from around the world is included. 242 pages

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Notables: 101 Global LBGTQ People Who Changed the World (Mark S. Bonham, 2015) reveals a group of select global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals whose accomplishments in their profession changed the world in some relevant way. Included are founders of various social movements, innovators in sports, leaders in business and politics, explorers and discoverers, instigators in religious movements, thinkers in philosophy, infamous villains, creators of new academic fields of study, and risk takers in the arts, culture, and entertainment worlds. 212 pages.

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Champions: Biographies of Global LGBTQ Pioneers (Mark S. Bonham, 2014) reveals a group of select artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sports figures, activists, and religious figures from around the world who have helped shape the history of the LGBTQ community. Presented in a convenient notebook format. 114 pages.

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Order for yourself, and the books also make an ideal gift for friends and family while supporting the development of QueerBio.Com