I reversed an attempt to combine the tags glbt and lgbt (“gay lesbian bisexual transgender” vs. “lesbian gay bisexual transgender”). In fact, although neither has gotten much use (queer and gay have done better) this is a perfect example of seeming synonyms having a very different nuance as tags.

Here’s the top 20 lgbt books. Only 3 (in bold) also make the glbt list.

• Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg (5)
• Dykes To Watch Out For, The Sequel by Alison Bechdel (3)
• The Snow Garden by Christopher Rice (3)
• Beyond the Closet: The Transformation of Gay and Lesbian Lif… by Steven Seidman (2)
• Invasion of the dykes to watch out for by Alison Bechdel (2)
• Complete Hothead Paisan by Diane Dimassa (2)
• Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (2)
• The Original Coming Out Stories by Julia Penelope (2)
• Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life-forms To Watch Out … by Alison Bechdel (2)
• The Indelible Alison Bechdel : Confessions, Comix, and Misce… by Alison Bechdel (2)
• More Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (2)
• The Essential Guide to Lesbian and Gay Weddings by Tess Ayers (2)
• Spawn of Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (2)
• Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (2)
• Split-Level Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (2)
• Unnatural Dykes To Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel (2)
• Courting Justice : Gay Men and Lesbians v. the Supreme Court… by Joyce Murdoch (2)
• A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice (2)
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (2)
• Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (2)

This is exactly where tags shine. Could this sort of social nuance be teased out of a Library of Congress subject heading?

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