-
First use of the word homosexuality
Karl Maria Kertbeny, a German-Hungarian sexologist who campaigned to decriminalize homosexual behavior in Prussia, was the first to use the term "homosexuality" in 1869 -
Oscar Wilde Sodomy Trial
In 1895, Wilde was arrested on sodomy charges, causing an estimated 600 homosexual men to flee to France, including Lord Alfred Douglas, his lover. -
Havelock Ellis Publishes Sexual Inversion
First English medical book that deals with homosexuality in men, Sexual Inversion, is published. It is banned in light of the Oscar Wilde trials. -
Magnus Hirschfeld Argues for Repeal of Paragraph 175
Magnus Hirschfeld, German sexologist, argues that the criminal ban on homosexuality unjustly targets individuals with natural sexual feelings. -
Magnus Hirschfeld Obscenity Trial
Magnus Hirschfeld is tried and found guilty for disseminating obscene material after handing out a questionnaire on sexuality to students at the School of Technology in Berlin and the metal workers factory. -
First raid in the United States on a gay establishment.
New York City police raid the Ariston Hotel Baths, arresting 26 men. Seven of these men receive between 4 and 20 years in prison on sodomy charges. -
Period: to
Emma Goldman begins speaking out for gay rights.
Emma Goldman, woman's health advocate and outspoken anarchist, begins dialogues with academics studying human sexuality on the nature and importance of gay liberation. In a popular letter written to gay human sexuality scholar Magnus Hirschfeld, she writes: "It is a tragedy, I feel, that people of a different sexual type are caught in a world which shows so little understanding for homosexuals and is so crassly indifferent to the various gradations and variations of gender and their great signif -
Establishment of the Institute for Sexual Science in Germany
he Institute for Sexual Science, established by Hirschfeld in 1919, housed physicians, therapists, and legal advisers who worked not only in homosexual concerns, but also in marriage counseling, VD screening and treatment, and general sex education. -
"Different from Others" is released in Weimar Germany
Different from the Others released in Weimar Germany, explores the erotic and romantic attraction of a successful male violinist to one of his male students. The film also features a cameo appearance by Magnus Hirschfeld. The film faced censorship and was eventually only screened to doctors and lawyers as a "medical artifact." The film explores homosexuality and transvestism extensively. Later, Nazis will hunt down and destroy the film, so only incomplete copies remain. -
Word "fag" first found in publication.
In 1923, Nels Anderson published the sociological inquiry into the life of the homeless, entitled <i> The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man. <i/> In it, he uses the word fag, first recorded evidence of the use of the word. He writes, "Fairies or Fags are men or boys who exploit sex for profit." -
Founding of the Society for Human Rights
Henry Gerber, a German immigrant, founds the Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the United States, in Chicago. He draws inspiration for the society from Magnus Hirschfeld. Despite the organization's official charter and its work in drawing attention to what Gerber called "homosexual emancipation," the group explicitly bans bisexual membership. Vice President Al Weininger's wife turned the group over to social workers, calling them degenerates and claiming that they we -
The Well of Loneliness published.
The Well of Loneliness was first published in the United Kingdom in 1928 and eventually made its way to the United States. The novel deals explicitly with lesbian love. Quickly, the book faced legal battles over censorship, promoting public interest and bringing homosexuality to the fore of public thought. -
Period: to
Nazis Rule Germany
Nazis brutally persecuted homosexuals, Jews, and political dissedents during their rule. The flourishing gay scene goes deep underground in Germany. -
Pink triangle first used as a gay symbol.
After the Nazi party bans homosexuality, many homosexuals were sent to concentration camps for extermination. Within these concentration camps, Nazis tagged prisoners with various shapes and colors of badges in order to distinguish between the reason for prisoners being shipped to the camps. The pink triangle, later a symbol of gay pride, was reserved for gay victims of Nazi brutality.
