Public Events in LGBTQ U.S. History: A Timeline

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From the American Revolution to the Present

This entry intends to provide a documented chronology of public references to LGBTQ life in the U.S., from the American Revolution to the present.


In this entry, "public" refers to events which exposed LGBTQ life to general view, as opposed to events in which reference to LGBTQ life remained essentially "private," known only to one, two, or several people. In some cases, whether an event was public or private will be a matter of debate. But in many cases, the distinction will be clear.


This list will include arrest reports, government reports, newspaper reports, publication of books and articles, reviews, trial records, etc., referring to LGBTQ life.


As this list grows it will probably have to be divided into interlinked sections.

OPEN ENTRY: This entry is open to collaborative creation by anyone with evidence, citations, and analysis to share, so no particular, named creator is responsible for the accuracy and cogency of its content. Please use this entry's Comment section at the bottom of the page to suggest improvements about which you are unsure. Thanks.

Chronological List

1778, March 10: In the American Revolutionary Army, Lieutenant Frederick Gotthold Enslin is court martialed for "attempting to commit sodomy" and the event is reported in George Washington's general orders.[1]


1778, July: In East Florida, occupied by the Spanish Army, when the rising incidence of sexual activity among Spanish soldiers reportedly included little boys, offenders were prosecuted and sent to Havana for trial.[2]


1779, June 18: "Sodomy...shall be punished...by castration" declared a Virginia bill authored by Thomas Jefferson.[3]


1793-1798: Moreau de St. Mery, a French lawyer and politician, lived in America, mostly in Philadelphia, and later reported that American women "are not at all strangers to being willing to seek unnatural pleasures with persons of their own sex."[4]


1824, April 25: A printed broadside signed by Louis Dwight reported that in American prisons "the SIN OF SODOM IS THE VICE OF PRISONERS AND BOYS ARE THE FAVORITE PROSTITUTES."[5]


1846, February 20: After a public hearing before the mayor of New York, a policeman, Edward McCosker, was dismissed from the City Police Department for "indecent conduct" with men while on duty.[6]


1866: An investigating committee of the Unitarian Church, Brewster, Massachusetts, wrote to Unitarian headquarters in Boston, communicating the feelings of an "outraged community," that the Brewster minister, Horatio Alger, charged with "the abominable and revolting crime of unnatural familiarity with boys," and had left town for parts unknown.[7]


1924: Leopold and Loeb Murder Trial, Chicago.[8]


1951, June: American papers report that Guy Burgess and Donald Mclean have disappeared and probably defected to the Soviet Union.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), page 24.
  2. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), pages 24-25
  3. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), page 24.
  4. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), pages 25-26.
  5. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), pages 27-26.
  6. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), pages 29-33.
  7. ↑ Jonathan Ned Katz, Gay American History: Lesbians and Gay Men in the U.S.A. (NY: Crowell, 1976), pages 33-34.
  8. ↑ documentation?
  9. ↑ {citation needed]
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