Richman1

Shane Richman
English 11
Ms. Freestone
8 May 2015
LGBT history
Homosexual relationships have been documented in every culture in the world. Dating as
far back as ancient Africa anthropologists have found evidence of long term, erotic
relationships between women in Lesotho. Warriors in northern Congo would often take boywives to help with household chores, these boys would range from twelve to about twenty-two
years old, it fell out of practice when the British took control in the early 20th century.
In many indigenous cultures throughout the Americas, before the colonization by
Europeans, had a form of sexuality known as two-spirit. Two-spirt people were often recognized
at a young age and given a choice whether or not they wanted to follow this path, they were often
seen as powerful beings and were usually shamans for their tribe.
In ancient China homosexual relationships were as common as heterosexual
relationships, as early as 600 BCE homosexual relationships were written about in much Chinese
literature.
Some of the earliest documentation regarding same-sex relationships comes from ancient
Greece. In ancient Greece men would often say that "Women are for business, boys are for
pleasure". Many men often favored adolescent boys over women, these same-sex relationships
were seen as a normal part of a mans love life.

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In many ancient European cultures same-sex relationships were used as a means to

control population. Same-sex relationships between an older free man and a young slave boy
were socially acceptable as long as the older man took the dominant role in the relationship, men
that took the passive or submissive role would often be scorned and belittled.
During the Renaissance many famous cities in northern Italy such as Florence and Venice
were well known for same-sex relationships. Homosexual behavior became unpopular when the
empire fell under Christian rule.
The ancient Celts were often seen as unusual because their men openly preferred male
lovers, many authors such as Aristotle and athenaeus wrote about how the Celtic women were
beautiful but that the men preferred to sleep together.
It wasnt until the early 1700s that people started to see homosexuality in biblical terms,
many psychiatrists in Europe during the late 1700s and early 1800s regarded homosexuality as a
disease and against god. Although in Europe same-sex intercourse was legal in almost all of
western Europe by the 18th century, in America homosexuality was still seen as taboo and
unnatural, the term homosexuality didnt appear until 1868.
During the 18th and 19th centuries much of America was rural which most likely lead to
the mainstream interpretations of the bible regarding homosexuality as an abomination, many
people used certain bible passages regarding same-sex relationships as justification for the severe
punishment for being homosexual. Those suspected of having been involved in homosexual acts
were usually killed. Thomas Jefferson suggested that the punishment for sodomy, rape, and
polygamy should be castration.

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During the early 20th century the city of Berlin was the main hub for homosexuals, the
city was well known for its homosexual clubs and cabarets. Berlin was the home of the worlds
first ever homosexual magazine, Der Eigene was started in 1896 and was aimed at homosexual
men and in 1924 Die Freundin was the worlds first lesbian magazine.
It was only in the 1920s that homosexuals began receiving mainstream attention, songs
and even films were made during this period that openly talked about homosexuality. It wouldnt
be until the 1960s that homosexuality would be seen as acceptable again.
During the 1930s the country had become more conservative, forcing homosexuals to
once again hide their behavior or risk imprisonment. During this period many states passed laws
against homosexuals, and homosexuality was officially declared a mental illness.
During World War 2 many lesbian women joined the womens army corps to meet other
women and to do masculine jobs. During the holocaust about 50,000 homosexuals were put into
concentration camps, its unknown how many homosexuals died but its estimated that between 5
and 15 thousand homosexual men and women were killed in concentration camps.
Many doctors diagnosed homosexuality as a disorder that could be cured, some of the
treatments included castration, lobotomies, and electroshock therapy. One of the most famous
court cases during this period was that of famous British mathematician Alan Turing. Turing
worked on building a super computer that cracked the code to the Nazis enigma machine which
helped the British win the Second World War, he was awarded the order of the British Empire.
Although he was a genius and helped his country win a war, he was also an open homosexual
and was arrested in the early 1950s under an 1885 statute of gross indecency he was given a

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choice of either jail or synthetic estrogen, he chose the estrogen. This choice later led to severe
depression and eventually suicide by biting into a poisonous apple. He was only 41 years old.
In the 1960s there were many social movements advocating for equal rights. Although
some believe the stonewall riots of 1969 were the beginning of the gay liberation movement
there were many other demonstrations prior to the stonewall riots such as marches and rallies
advocating for equal rights and these marches and protests led up to the riots.
In the 1980s many gay people believed that president Reagan was the main cause of
much anti-gay discrimination but this turned out to be false, president Reagan gave over 5 billion
dollars to AIDS research and had the white house decorator who was openly gay spend the night
at his private white house quarters with his male lover during Nancy Reagans 60th birthday.
All throughout history LGBT people have been persecuted, even now in modern times
the LGBT community is still fighting for equal rights and protection under the law, though it has
been a long journey we are now starting to see some real progress in the fight for equality. Even
though same-sex marriage is legal in some states the LGBT community feels that its either all or
nothing, so until every state and every nation has complete equality for LGBT people the fight is
not over.

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Works cited
Murray, Stephen (ed.); Roscoe, Will (ed.) (1998). Boy Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of
African Homosexualities. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Rocke, Michael, (1996), Forbidden Friendships: Homosexuality and male Culture in
Renaissance Florence.
Percy, William A. (1996). Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece. University of Illinois
Press. p. 18.
Edsall, Nicholas C., Towards Stonewall.Virginia UP. Pg. 127152.
Edsall, Nicholas C., Towards Stonewall.Virginia UP. Pg. 6984.
Edgar Leslie (words) and James V. Monaco (music) and featured in Hugh J. Ward's Musical
Comedy "Lady Be Good."
Wolf, Sherry (2004). "The Roots of Gay Oppression: The Second World War". International
Socialist Review (37).
"Results of Castration in Sexual Abnormalities". Urologic & Cutaneous Review 33: 351. 1929.
Kronemeyer, Robert (1980). Overcoming Homosexuality. New York: Macmillan. pp. 81, 87.
Max, Louis William (1935). "Breaking Up a Homosexual Fixation by the Condition Reaction
Technique: A Case Study".
Murdock, Deroy (2012-06-22). "The Gay Left Lies about Reagan Again".
Nationalreview.com