History of being gay
Government Persecution of the LGBTQ Community is Widespread
The s were perilous times for individuals who fell outside of society’s legally allowed norms relating to gender or sexuality. There were many names for these individuals, including the clinical “homosexual,” a term popularized by pioneering German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing. In the U.S., professionals often used the term “invert.” In the midth Century, many cities formed “vice squads” and police often labeled the people they arrested “sexual perverts.” The government’s preferred term was “deviant,” which came with legal consequences for anyone seeking a career in public service or the military. “Homophile” was the term preferred by some early activists, small networks of women and men who yearned for collective and found creative ways to resist legal and societal persecution.
With draft eligibility officially lowered from 21 to 18 in , World War II brought together millions of people from around the country–many of whom were disappearing their home states for the first time–to pack the ranks of the military and the federal workforce. Among them were gays and lesbians, who quietly formed kinships on military bas
A Brief LGBTQ History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer People
The Prior Evidence of Homosexuality
Contrary to some beliefs, homosexuality is not a recent phenomenon—but a part of human culture for thousands of years. From prehistoric cave art to ancient texts, the narrative of lgbtq+ relationships runs deep in our history, speaking volumes about human sexuality's diverse nature.
The first recorded depiction of homosexual partners can be traced back to the Mesolithic rock art in Sicily, Italy, around BCE. The ancient drawings discovered by historians paint a profound picture of phallic male figures in pairs, engaged in what appears to be intimate behavior.
This illustration moves us beyond the presumption that heterosexuality was the norm during prehistoric times. It suggests that gay relationships existed, even then and might have been accepted or acknowledged in prehistoric societies.
The evidence of homosexuality extends to about BCE in Zimbabwe. The cave artwork from this African region reveals a similar narrative. A cursory look at the drawings cones you with scenes of homosexual intercourse and partnerships. These pictorial evidence
It is dangerous to be different, and certain kinds of difference are especially risky. Race, disability, and sexuality are among the many ways people are socially marked that can make them vulnerable. The museum recently collected materials to document gay-conversion therapy (also called "reparative therapy")—and these objects allow curators like myself to travel how real people life these risks. With the help of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., Garrard Conley gave us the workbook he used in at a now defunct religious gay-conversion camp in Tennessee, called "Love in Action." We also received materials from John Smid, who was camp director. Conley's memoir of his time there, Boy Erased, chronicles how the camp's conversion therapy followed the idea that existence gay was an addiction that could be treated with methods similar to those for abating drug, alcohol, gambling, and other addictions. While there, Conley spiraled into depression and suicidal thoughts. Conley eventually escaped. Smid eventually left Love in Action and married a man.
In the United States, responses to gay, homosexual, queer, female homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, and gender non-conforming iden
The history of ‘coming out,’ from secret gay code to popular political protest
Abigal Saguy is a professor of sociology in the UCLA College. She wrote this article for The Conversation.
You probably understand what it means to “come out” as queer . You may even possess heard the expression used in relation to other kinds of identity, such as being undocumented.
But accomplish you know where the term comes from? Or that its meaning has changed over time?
In my new book, “Come Out, Come Out, Whoever You Are,” I explore the history of this designation, from the earliest days of the gay rights movement, to today, when it has been adopted by other movements.
Selective sharing
In the late 19th and early 20th century, lgbtq+ subculture thrived in many large American cities.
Gay men spoke of “coming out” into gay society — borrowing the term from debutante society, where elite young women came out into high society. A news article in the Baltimore Afro-American referred to “the coming out of new debutantes into gay society.” It was titled “ Debutantes Bow at Local ‘Pansy’ Ball.”
The s, 40s and 50s witnessed a growing ba
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