LGBT history
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LGBT history refers to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities around the world, dating back to the first known appearance of gay communities within ancient civilizations.
Many important figures of the past were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. However, the field of LGBT history is relatively new; the history of these communities, marked as it is by heavy persecution, violence, disease, and misunderstanding, has often been overlooked.
In recent times, however, some countries have begun to observe "Gay History Month" to recognize the contributions and events related to the Gay Community.
Ancient History
See also: Timeline of LGBT historyAncient Greece & Rome
The earliest documents concerning same-sex pederastic relationships come from Ancient Greece. Such relationships did not replace marriage between man and woman, but occurred before and beside it. A mature man would usually not have a mature male mate (exceptions aside, such as Alexander the Great) but he would be the erastes (lover) to a young eromenos (loved one). Both partners inspired by love symbolized by Eros, the erastes unselfishly provided education, guidance, and appropriate gifts to his eromenos, who became his devoted pupil and assistant. Kenneth J. Dover, followed by Foucault and Halperin, assumed that it was considered improper for the eromenos to feel desire, as that would not be masculine, but Dover's claim has been questioned in light of evidence of love poetry which suggests a more emotional connection than earlier researchers liked to acknowledge.
Some research has shown that ancient Greeks believed semen, more specifically sperm, to be the source of knowledge, and that these relationships served to pass wisdom on from the erastes to the eromenos within society.[[Citing sources citation needed]] Though many in the GLBT movement assert that Greek pederastic relationships have nothing to do with modern GLBT practices because they involve children, that is countered by critics who point out that relations in antiquity did not involve children but rather young adults.[link]
Ancient China & Japan
Homosexuality has been acknowledged in China since ancient times. Scholar Pan Guangdan (潘光旦) came to the conclusion that nearly every emperor in the Han Dynasty had one or more male sex partners. There are also descriptions of lesbians in some history books. It is believed homosexuality was popular in the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. Chinese homosexuals did not experience high-profile persecution comparing with that was received by homosexuals in Europe during the Middle Ages.
Same-sex love was celebrated in Chinese art, many examples of which have survived the book burnings of the Cultural Revolution. Though no large statues are known to still exist, many hand scrolls and paintings on silk can be found in private collections[link].
In Japan several Heian diaries which contain references to homosexual acts exist as well. Some of these also contain references to Emperors involved in homosexual relationships and to "handsome boys retained for sexual purposes" by Emperors. In other literary works can be found references to what Leupp has called "problems of gender identity", such as the story of a youth falling in love with a girl who is actually a cross-dressing male.
The Middle Ages
Same-sex scholarly 'empires of the mind' in medieval Arabic & Hebrew cultures, as seen in their poetry on same-sex love.
Same-sex Christian monastic communities and other religious orders in which homosexuality thrived.
This section requires expansion
Modern History
The emancipation movement in Germany, 1890s-1934
See: Magnus Hirschfeld, Gustav Wyneken, Adolf Brand, Leontine Sagan, and the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.
This section requires expansion
Holocaust
Main article: History of gays during the Holocaust.
Gay men and lesbians were another of the groups targeted during the time of the Holocaust. Some leaders clearly wanted gays exterminated; while others wanted Paragraph 175 against gay sex enforced. More than one million gay German men were targeted, whom at least 100,000 were arrested and 50,000 serving prison terms as convicted gay men. An additional unknown number were institutionalized in state-run mental hospitals. Hundereds of European gay men living under Nazi occupation were castrated under court order.
An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 gay men were sent to concentration camps and their death that we officially know about through historical documents. Larger numbers include those who were Jewish and gay, or even Jewish, gay and Communist. In addition, records as to the specific reasons for internment are non-existent in many areas making it hard to put an exact number on just how many gay men perished in death camps (see History of Gays during the Holocaust for more information). Conditions for gay men in the camps was especially rough, they faced not only persecution from German soldiers but also other prisoners, many gay men were reported to die of beatings. German soldiers were also known to use the pink triangles gay men were forced to wear as target practice with their weapons.
Lesbians were not treated as harshly as gay men. They were labeled as "anti-social" but not sent to camps.
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between homosexuals and police officers in New York City. The first night of rioting began on Friday, June 27, 1969 not long after 1:20 a.m., when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. "Stonewall", as the raids are often referred to, is considered a turning point for the modern gay rights movement worldwide.
Same-sex Marriage
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, there has been a growing movement in a number of countries to regard marriage as a right which should be extended to same-sex couples. Legal recognition of a marital union opens up a wide range of entitlements, including social security, taxation, inheritance and other benefits unavailable to couples unmarried in the eyes of the law. Restricting legal recognition to opposite-sex couples excludes same-sex couples from gaining legal access to these benefits, and while opposite-sex unmarried couples without other legal impediments have the option of marrying in law and so gaining access to these rights, that option is unavailable to same-sex couples. Similarly, though certain rights extending from marriage can be replicated by legal means (for example, by drawing up contracts), many cannot; thus, despite the presence of legal contracts, same-sex couples may still face insecurity in areas such as inheritance, hospital visitation and immigration. Lack of legal recognition also makes it more difficult for same-sex couples to adopt children.
At present, same-sex marriages are legal nationally in only a few countries (see map on the left): the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, and Spain.
In the United States as of November 2004, only the state of Massachusetts recognizes same-sex marriages, while the states of Vermont, New Jersey, and California offer same-sex partners benefits similar to those of legally married couples. Seventeen other States have constitutional provisions that limit marriages to one man and one woman, while twenty-five States have statutes containing similar definitions. In the United States, the debate over whether or not to make same sex marriages legally binding remains one of the most polarizing and divisive political debates of the early 21st century and it is discussed with great passion all over the world. During 2004, 13 US States amended their constitutions to define marriage as being only between one man and one woman. Some people, including many gay rights advocates and some heterosexual same-sex marriage advocates, view restrictions such as these as being an example of the tyranny of the majority in action.#redirect [[Template:fact]]
References
Outside Resources
- ["Out Of The Past" PBS Documentary On Gay American History]
- [BBC - United Kingdom Celebrates Gay History Month]
- [GLBTQ Encyclopedia]
- [People With A History]
- [Androphile Gay history Project]
- [Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece]
- [About Outing]
Outside Reading
- Bullough, Vern L. (ed.) [Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context], New York, London, Oxford: Harrington Park Press, 2002.
- Dynes, Wayne R. (ed.) [Encyclopedia of Homosexuality.] New York and London, Garland Publishing, 1990
- Johansson, Warren and Percy, William A. [Outing: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence.] New York and London: Haworth Press, 1994.
- Percy, William A. [Pederasty and Pedagogy in Archaic Greece], Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1996.
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