United States of America

A general overview of LGBTQIA+ movements and historical events. These also include international headlines related to LGBTQIA+ history from the perspective of residents in the United States.

Turn of the Century (1890s-1910s)

• Library of Congress, Chronicling America, first record using term "homosexual" in a piece titled "Cause and Cure of Anarchy" (1898) in the Omaha Daily Bee. The piece describes Luigi Lucheni, an Italian anarchist who assassinated Empress Elisabeth of Austria the same year, stating "he was like Caserio... in temperament a homo-sexual". Caserio may be referring to Italian anarchist Sante Geronimo Caserio, who assassinated President of France, Marie François Sadi Carnot in 1894. The article is largely an attempt at psychoanalyzing people with anarchist leanings but has no real scientific or medical basis.
• Library of Congress, Chronicling America, next record using term "homosexuality" in a piece by Voice of the People titled "How the Southern Pacific Scabs were Herded" (1915). The piece describes homosexuality and prostitution as forms of degeneracy which are allegedly popular topics being discussed by scabs waiting for work. The article is written from the perspective of a union worker reporting to a Louisiana socialist newspaper.

1920s

• A Chicago newspaper affiliated with the Communist Party remarks on the opening of the Institute for Sex Science in Germany under Dr. Hirschfeld (March 4, 1924).
• William J. Fielding publishes a book titled "Homosexual Life" in 1925. The book is an attempt at psychoanalyzing sexuality but has no real scientific or medical basis.
• Mae West's play The Drag is banned in the State of New York, some of the cast is arrested. The play is reported to have had strong "homosexual" themes (February 1, 1927).

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World War II (1930s-1940s)

• See USA World War II

Post-War (1940s-1960s)

• Homophile Movement (1950s-1960s)
• Mattachine Society (1950s-1960s)

McCarthyism and Federal Persecution

• See USA McCarthyism to learn more about the persecution of LGBTQIA+ communities during the McCarthy era under Senator Joseph McCarthy and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
• Due to the rise in federal pusuits against gay communities, local police, and even residents, participated in entrapment and extortion of gay individuals or those suspected of being gay. See USA History of Entrapment for more.

Blue Discharges (1947)

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Reasons for Discharge (1952)

• The People's Voice, a labor newspaper in the State of Montana, publishes a Congressional study that showed 1/3 of discharges were for "neuro-psychiatric reasons", which excluded 163,000 in the Army and 91,563 from the Navy for reasons including "homosexuality".

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Guilty of Homosexuality (1952)

• The Miami Times publishes a list of criminal charges pressed in court. Nora Jackson was sentenced to 40 days in jail for disorderly conduct and being "guilty of homosexuality" (July 19, 1952).

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Tennessee Williams Describes Filming Censorship (1954)

• Tennessee Williams, then-popular Country singer, tells the Key West Citizen, a newspaper in the State of Florida, about the filming of his play A Streetcar Named Desire; "We had to make one change because of censorship. We couldn't mention homosexuality as a human problem" (December 22, 1954).

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10,000 "Fairies" Have Invaded New York's Harlem (1955)

• An article in the Minneapolis Spokesman describes gay communities "moved in TEN THOUSAND STRONG" to Harlem (February 18, 1955).

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American Law Institute Recommends Sex Law Reforms (1955)

• The Evening Star reports that American Law Institute recommends changes to sex laws which would "exclude adultery, fornication, and sodomy-- all of which are currently punishable crimes in nearly all states and the District of Columbia." (June 12, 1955).

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Police Screen for Liquor Licenses (1957)

• The Evening Star publishes an article that mentions a police screening for liquor licenses in order to "prevent prostitutes and homosexuals from soliciting in bars and taverns" (May 19, 1957).

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Roth v. United States (1958)

The Evening Star reports on Roth v. United States (1958), a Supreme Court case which lifted a ban from the Post Office on three magazines, including One by the Mattachine Society (January 1, 1958).

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Stonewall (1960s-1980s)

• Christopher Street Liberation Day
• Gay Freedom Day

HIV/AIDS Crisis (1980s-1990s)

• ACT UP

Related Pages

• USA History of Censorship
• USA History of Panic Defense

State Archives

• State of California
• State of Florida
• State of Idaho
• State of Michigan
• State of New York
• State of Oklahoma
• State of Washington
• Washington D.C.