United States of America
From LGBTQIA+ Archives Wiki
The home for archives from the United States of America.
LGBTQIA+ History in the United States
A general overview of LGBTQIA+ movements and historical events.
Turn of the Century (1890s-1900s)
- 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 remarks on the opening of the Institute for Sex Science in Germany under Dr. Hirschfeld.
- 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 New York, some of the cast is arrested. The play is reported to have had strong "homosexual" themes (1927).
Post-War (1940s-1960s)
- Homophile Movement (1950s-1960s)
- Mattachine Society (1950s-1960s)
Stonewall (1960s-1980s)
HIV/AIDS Crisis (1980s-1990s)
