Gay rights movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons—that is, for lbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons—and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life.
Contents:
- GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
- INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
- THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Gay rights movement, also lled gay liberatn movement, civil rights movement that advot equal rights for LGBTQ persons (i.
E., for lbians, gays [homosexual mal], bisexuals, transgenr persons, and queer persons); seeks to elimate sodomy laws; and lls for an end to discrimatn agast LGBTQ persons employment, cred, hog, public acmodatns, and other areas of life. (Although the term gay is monly ed reference to homosexual mal, is also ed more generally to refer to homosexual mal together wh some or all other orientatns wh the LGBTQ muny. ) Gay rights prr to the 20th century Relig admonns agast sexual relatns between dividuals of the same sex (particularly men) long stigmatized such behavur, but most legal s Europe were silent on the subject of homosexualy and bisexualy.
The begng of the gay rights movement Before the end of the 19th century there were srcely any “movements” for gay rights.
THE HISTORY OF GAY LIBERATN
Ined, his poem “Two Lov” (1894), Lord Aled (“Bosie”) Douglas, Osr Wil’s lover, clared “I [homosexualy] am the love that dare not speak s name. ” Homosexual and bisexual men and women were given voice 1897 wh the foundg of the Scientific-Humanarian Commtee (Wissenschaftlich-humanär Komee; WhK) Berl.
Dpe Paragraph 175 and the failure of the WhK to w s repeal, homosexual and bisexual men and women experienced a certa amount of eedom Germany, particularly durg the Weimar perd, between the end of World War I and the Nazi seizure of power. In many larger German ci, gay nightlife beme tolerated, and the number of gay publitns creased. Ined, acrdg to some historians, the number of gay bars and perdils Berl the 1920s exceed that New York Cy six s later.
INSI THE FIRST PRI PARA—A R PROTT FOR GAY LIBERATN
Dpe the formatn of such groups, polil activy by homosexuals and bisexuals was generally not very visible.
THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
Ined, gays were often harassed by the police wherever they ngregated.
The war brought many young people to ci and brought visibily to the gay muny.
In the Uned Stat this greater visibily brought some backlash, particularly om the ernment and the police: the ernment often fired gay civil servants, the ary attempted to purge s ranks of gay soldiers (a policy enacted durg World War II), and police vice squads equently raid gay bars and arrted their patrons. However, there was also greater polil activy among gays, aimed large measure at crimalizg sodomy.