LOS ANGELES (April 9, 2003) - Scholars, academic researchers, and experts in the arts and literature have created the first online encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (glbtq) culture. The new glbtq encyclopedia is free and can be found at www.glbtq.com.

Written for anyone with an interest in glbtq culture and the lives of glbtq people, glbtq.com contains more than one million words in 900-plus entries. More than 200 historical images collected from some of the world’s most renowned archives and libraries illustrate the encyclopedia’s entries.

“I am pleased that so many of the leading pioneers in glbtq studies have contributed to the encyclopedia and that several serve on our Board of Editorial Consultants,” said Andrew “Wik” Wikholm, president and producer of glbtq.com, adding, “It has been exciting to see more than 260 experts document our culture and our past, because our heritage is important.”


glbtq is An Invaluable Research Tool For College Students and Faculty

“Much of the information in the glbtq encyclopedia was deliberately hidden or simply forgotten before the explosion in glbtq studies and research that began about 25 years ago, and continues today,” said General Editor Claude J. Summers, Ph. D., William E. Stirton Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “The glbtq encyclopedia grew out of that research, and provides the first comprehensive foundation for both faculty research projects and student papers that deal with glbtq topics in literature and the arts.”

''With glbtq.com, we now have an authoritative resource that will be invaluable to scholars, to college students, and to university professors who will use the glbtq encyclopedia in their courses, as well as to those with even a casual interest in glbtq culture,'' said Professor Judith Scherer Herz of Concordia University, Montreal. ''The ethnic, racial, geographic, and cultural diversity of the entries is impressive. The glbtq encyclopedia is comprehensive, focused, and imaginative.''

Contributors range from Douglas Blair Turnbaugh, representative to the U.S.A. and Membre Conseiller of the Conseil International de la Danse/UNESCO; to Shaun Cole, curator of Designs at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; to Edward Sullivan, chair of New York University`s Department of Fine Arts; and Carla Williams, Blues aficionado and Sante Fe-based photographer.


About glbtq

glbtq was founded with a single objective: to build the most comprehensive, accessible, and authoritative encyclopedia of glbtq culture. The company’s business offices are located in Chicago. The executive and editorial staff include: General Editor Dr. Claude J. Summers, William E. Stirton Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at the University of Michigan-Dearborn; Copy Editor Dr. Ted-Larry Pebworth, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Michigan-Dearborn; and President and Producer Andrew “Wik” Wikholm, a seasoned IT professional and an accomplished writer whose articles have appeared in dozens of publications.