User:Sgupta40/sandbox

Annotations

1. “Lambda.” Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures. 1^st ed. 1999. Print.

The “Lambda” entry in the Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures describes the historical origins of the Lambda symbol and provides a timeline of its adoption into mainstream LGBT culture. The piece claims the lambda symbol was first used in the context of Spartan soldiers and Roman language/culture.  The text also states that the Gay Activists Alliance of New York adopted the lambda as a symbol of gay liberation in the 1970s and that the symbol was finally proclaimed an official international symbol for gay and lesbian rights at the 1974 International Gay Rights Congress meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland. The encyclopedia’s description of the lambda symbol is critical in defining my queer object because it’s one of few official texts I’ve been able to find that takes a definitive stance on the symbol’s somewhat hazy classical origins. This source meets Wikipedia’s standards for a reliable source because it is a third-party source published by the academic publisher Routlege. Additionally, the article doesn’t present the history of the symbol in interpretive terms, rather it simply states how the symbol was used in Greek and Roman cultures without insinuating why the GAA chose the symbol.

2. Rapp, Linda. "Gay Activists Alliance." The GLBTQ Encyclopedia Project. Glbtq, inc.: 2004. Web. http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/gay_activists_alliance_S.pdf

Linda Rapp’s entry about the Gay Activists Alliance gives a more detailed explanation as to how and why the lambda symbol was adopted by the GAA of New York in 1971. She specifically credits graphic designer Tom Doerr with choosing to use the lambda symbol as the organization’s logo. Rapp also explains that the GAA literature she studied for the piece indicates the lambda was chosen because of its denotative meaning in the context of chemistry and physics (“a complete exchange of energy--that moment or span of time witness to absolute activity"). The source is important for my queer object because it describes the GAA’s rationale for choosing the lambda symbol and describes the symbol as it was intended to be read in a modern context. This source meets Wikipedia’s standards for a reliable source because the glbtq Project was researched and overseen by a board of editorial consultants made up of experts in LGBT studies and culture.

3. Sears, James Thomas. “Rainbow Flag and Other Pride Symbols.” Youth, Education, and Sexualities: K-Z. Santa Barbara: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. 699-701. Print.

This source describes the GAA’s formation as a response to the larger Gay Liberation Front fragmentation. It also places the GAA’s origins in the context of the Stonewall riots. The text is uniquely important in describing my queer object because it states that the lambda symbol because popular within the LGBT community partially because its significant was “unrecognized by the uninitiated.” This source meets Wikipedia’s standards for a reliable source because each section within the text has its own designated bibliography, clearly indicating that the tertiary source was well-researched. Its publisher (Greenwood Publishing Group) is also an educational and academic publisher.