LGBT history
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LGBT history refers to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, am 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 and transgender cultures around the world, datithe history of the former, marked as it is by persecution and misunderstanding, has often been overlooked or suppressed. The field of LGBT history is thus relatively new.
In recent times, some countries have begun to observe "LGBT History Month" to recognize the contributions and events related to LGBT communities.
Contents |
Ancient History
See also: Timeline of LGBT history
Among historical figures, some were recorded as having relations with others of their own sex – exclusively or together with opposite-sex relations – while others were recorded as only having relations with the opposite sex. However, there are instances of same-sex love and sexuality within almost all ancient civilizations.
Ancient Greece & Rome
The earliest documents concerning same-sex pederastic relationships come fro 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 Michel Foucault and Halperin, assumed that it was considered improper for the eromenos to feel desire, as that would not be masculine. However, 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.[1] Many in the GLBT movement assert that Greek pederastic relationships have nothing to do with modern GLBT practices because they involve children. However, that is countered by critics who point out that these same-sex relationships in antiquity did not involve children but rather young adults.[1]
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[2].
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' were common in medieval Arabic and Hebrew cultures, as seen in their poetry on same-sex love.
According to John Boswell, author of the controversial book Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1980), there were same-sex Christian monastic communities and other religious orders in which homosexuality thrived. According to Chauncey et al (1989), the book "offered a revolutionary interpretation of the Western tradition, arguing that the Roman Catholic Church had not condemned gay people throughout its history, but rather, at least until the twelfth century, had alternately envinced no special concern about homosexuality or actually celebrated love between men."
Boswell was also the author of Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe (New York: Villard, 1994) in which he argues that the adelphopoiia liturgy was evidence that attitude of the Christian church towards homosexuality has changed over time, and that early Christians did on occasion accept same-sex relationships. [3] Other sources have criticized Boswell's findings and scholarly rigor.
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.
[[Homosexuality|Gay me 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 that the men were forced to wear for 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
In the autumn of 1959 the police force of New York City's Wagner administration began closing down the city's gay bars, which had numbered almost two dozen in Manhattan at the beginning of the year. This crackdown was largn 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. Hundreds 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,ely the result of a sustained campaign by the Right Wing, ardently homophobic NY Mirror newspaper columnist, Lee Mortimer. The existing gay bars were quickly closed, and new ones that opened lasted only a short time.
The spirit of protest and a new attitude toward sexual mores began changing the social and political atmosphere of New York, and the election of John Lindsay in 1965 signaled a major shift in city politics.
On April 21, 1966 Dick Leitsch, president of the New York Mattachine Society, and two other members staged the Sip-in at Julius bar on West 10th Street in Greenwich Village, which resulted in the anti-gay accommodation rules of the NY State Liquor Authority being overturned in subsequent court actions. These SLA provisions declared that it was a violation of the on-premises liquore laws to "congregate" and serve alcoholic drinks to homosexuals. This had been upheld by the State courts in 1940, when Gloria's, a bar that had been closed for such violation fought the case in court - extraordinary for those times - and lost. Because of this the business of running gay bars became the province of the Mafia and shady characters paying bribes to the police and the Mafia. As soon as the legal actions were initiated the SLA ceased closing legally licensed gay bars - the police did, of course, continue to raid any bar, gay or straight, that operated without a license. (It remained a crime to sell liquor without a proper license.) However, legally licensed bars could no longer be prosecuted for serving homosexuals - gay bars were legal in New York State.
Mattachine pressed this advantage very quickly and almost immediately Mayor Lindsay was confronted with the issue of police entrapment in gay bars, and this practice was stopped. Following on the heels of this victory the Mayor cooperated in getting questions about homosexuality and homosexuality as an issue removed from NYC hiring practices. The police and fire departments did resist the new policy, however, and refused to cooperate.
The result of these changes in the law and law enforcement, combined with the radically more open social and sexual attitudes of the mid and late Sixties led to a burgeoning of gay life in the city and its considerably increased visibility. Several licensed gay bars were in operation in Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side, as well as illegal unlicensed places serving alcohol, such as the Stonewall Inn and the Snakepit, both in the Village.
The Stonewall riots were a series of violent conflicts between homosexualsand 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 operating without a State license in Greenwich Village. "Stonewall", as the raids are often referred to, is considered a turning point for the modern gay rights movement worldwide. Newspaper coverage of the events was minor in the city, in the Sixties huge marches and mass rioting had become commonplace and the Stonewall disturbances were relatively small. It was the commemorative march one year later, organized largely by the impetus of Craig Rodwell owner of the Oscar Wilde Book Shop, which drew 5,000 or more marchers up NYC's Sixth Avenue that drew nationwide publicity and put the Stonewall events on the historical map.
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.[2][3]
Student Groups
Since the mid-1980's students at high schools and Universities have organized LGTB groups, often called Gay-Straight Alliances, at their respective schools. The groups form to provide support for LGTB students and to promote awareness of LGTB issues in the local community. Frequently, such groups have been banned or prohibited from meeting or receiving the same recogniztion as other student groups. For example, in September of 2006, Touro University - Mare Island of California briefly attempted to ban the school's GSA, the Touro University Gay-Straight Alliance. After student demonstrations and an outcry of support from the American Medical Student Association, the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association and the Vallejo City Council, Touro University retracted its revocation of the school's GSA. The University went on to reaffirm its commitment to non-discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Notes
- ^ Vanggaard, Thorkil (1972). Phallos. A Symbol and its History in the Male World (in English). New York: International Universities Press, Inc..
- ^ Spring fever. Bill and Kent's Place on the Web. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
- ^ Matt Daniels, president of the traditionalist Alliance for Marriage condemned the decision.. NewsFeed Researcher. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
References
- Denina, Chris. "Gay Club Loses Touro OK." Vallejo Times-Herald 9 Sept. 2006: A1 [4]
- American Medical Student Association. 13 Sept 2006: "Nation's Medical Students Applaud California Osteopathic Medical School's Affirmation of Gay-Straight Alliance." [5]
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
- NYC Gay Life in the Sixties
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Historical Society
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.
Categories
LGBT history