Human rights can commonly be accessed through everyday life. The majority of the population receives these rights at birth, for just being human. However, there are specific groups in today’s society that struggle to access these rights. This can be said about the LGBT community, who have been fighting for basic human rights for decades on end. The past century has really shown some terror but also growth for this profound community.
Homosexuality is not a term that people shy away from – for the most part – anymore. However, in the early twentieth century, the views on homosexuality were not only unjustified but downright atrocious. The movement begins with Henry Gerber, a German immigrant living in Chicago (1924). Gerber was amongst the first to document gay rights in the United States. During his time in World War 1, he founded “Homosexual Emancipation” a committee that publicly spoke about the rights of homosexual men. As well as this he also founded the first gay-interest newsletter called, “Friendship and Freedom” – this unfortunately never went very far due to police raids shutting it down before it could lift off. Gerber said, 'Would it not sound more natural to say that the homosexual is made neurotic because his style of life is beset by thousands of dangers?” (Henry Gerber, responding to newspaper, 1934). This quote perfectly describes Gerber’s views on homosexuality and was definitely the kick-off to the movement for the LGBT community.
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In the same year, 1924, English poet and author – Radcliff Hall – stirred controversy when she published a lesbian-themed novel called “The Well of Loneliness”. This once again took the movement far, but it also didn’t sit right with the rest of society. Questions were being asked about how suitable it was for these kinds of novels and writings to be available to the public. In her novel, she writes, “Too late, too late, your love gave me life. Here am I the creature you made through your loving; by your passion you created the thing that I am. Who are you to deny me the right to love? But for you, I need never have known existence.” It is very clear to see Halls's views on the lesbian community and this novel has soon become a massive part of the LGBT culture. Between 1928 – 1929 Hall was dragged through tedious court trials for this novel. This once again shows that society was not yet ready to accept the community – which is tragic in itself.
The timeline quickly moves onto the years during World War 2. Nazi concentration camps are possibly the most known for the heinous acts upon Jewish citizens, however, there were many other groups of people that were brought and tortured in these camps. Those who were known or suspected of being part of the LGBT community were also brought to these camps. They were given a pink triangle that was pinned onto the infamous stripped clothes that they wore. These triangles were also given to those accused of being sexual predators. This in turn shows that society viewed homosexuals as people who were committing horrible sex crimes. This still shows the mistreatment that the community experienced.
As the LGBT community took two steps forward, society pushed them three steps backward. This can be seen in 1952 when the American Psychiatrist Association deemed homosexuality as a mental disorder. Due to this, anyone known or presumed as being homosexual – male or female- would be put into mental institutions which focused on trying to bring them back to heterosexuality. The people included in these horrible tests were horribly treated. It went against many human rights and morals. It started off with therapy in which the doctor would try to get to the basis of where homosexuality started. It then got much more violent and forced many of the patients to self-pleasure pictures of the opposite sex hoping it would trigger the brain to associate pleasure with the opposite sex. In many countries, this torture also included many forms of rape as well. This not only dehumanized the patients but also gave them irreversible trauma.
Due to these dates, it seems as though these horrors were more than fifty years ago which makes a lot of people question whether or not homophobia is still in society today. The answer to this is of course there is. In 2012 in Ohio, the infamous gay nightclub, Pulse, was shot up – unfortunately killing 48 innocents and injuring 56. The reason for these deaths was no other reason other than the sexuality of these people. This scared the LGBT community for months.
There are still roughly twenty-eight countries that still punish homosexuality with the death penalty. These are mostly middle eastern – Muslim – countries today. Pride – a national holiday and march for the LGBT community gets protested against every year. It Is very clear to see that discrimination has not yet fully changed and quite possibly will take more time for the LGBT community to be fully accepted in today's society.
In conclusion, The LGBT community may have come leaps and bounds from one hundred years ago, yet these are still humans that deserve the same rights as the rest of the population. No one should be killed for love, and no one should have to hide themselves in fear of being treated this horribly. There are many countries today – such as America – that are desperately trying to take the few rights of the LGBT community away such as the right to marriage. This is repeating history for many different reasons and it would be irresponsible to assume that the LGBT community won't fight back this time.
This topic is particularly important and close to my heart as I identify as a lesbian female in a society that doesn’t yet fully accept this. I have first-hand experience of discrimination for my sexuality. I understood that my community went through a lot of troubles in the past, yet I had no idea just how bad it had to get before there was a change. In my personal opinion, every human life should be treated with the same respect – despite their gender, race, and especially the people that they love.
Bibliography
- Graham, G. (2019). George Chauncey. Available: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7923349-henry-gerber-writing-in-1932-under-the-pseudonym-parisex-responded. Last accessed 09.09.20
- Roberta, J. (2019). Christian Martyr, Pagan Witness. Available: https://glreview.org/article/christian-martyr-pagan-witness/. Last accessed 09.09.20.
- Hall, R. (2019). The Well of Loneliness. Available: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/74248.Radclyffe_Hall. Last accessed 09.09.20.
- REPORTER. (2020). LGBTQ Rights Milestones Fast Facts. Available: https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/lgbt-rights-milestones-fast-facts/index.html. Last accessed 09.09.20
- REPORTER. (2016). 3 Hours In Orlando: Piecing Together An Attack And Its Aftermath. Available: https://choice.npr.org/index.html?origin=https://www.npr.org/2016/06/16/482322488/orlando-shooting-what-happened-update. Last accessed 09.09.20
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