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1890- Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson meet

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1890- Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson meet

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While no one can know for sure if the US has had any queer presidents in the past, we do know that America’s had at least one queer First Lady. Rose Cleveland, Grover Cleveland’s sister, served as the First Lady for a little over a year, as neither was married during Cleveland’s first term. Vactationing in Florida during 1890, Rose met a wealthy widower named Evangeline Simpson, or Eve. “My Eve! Ah, how I love you! It paralyzes...Oh Eve, Eve, surely you cannot realize what you are to me. What you must be. Yes, I dare it, now, I will no longer fear to claim you. You are mine by every sign in Earth & Heaven, by every sign in soul & spirit & body– and you cannot escape me. You must bear me all the way, Eve,” Rose wrote in a letter to her. While many women had ‘romantic friendships’ at this time, their correspondence suggests that they were involved romantic relationship, even before the concept of sexual orientation emerged. Even broken up by Evangeline’s second marriage, the two were involved for nearly thirty years total. Evangeline and Rose lived separately until 1910, traveling with each other frequently throughout that time, when they moved to Italy together. They lived happily together in the small Italian town of Bagni di Lucca until Rose’s death in 1918. When Evangeline passed away, she was buried immediately next to Rose in Italy. Their relationship was unheard of until their romantic correspondence was donated in 1969, but even then, was hidden from the public eye until 2019 due to it being 'indicative of a lesbian relationship'.
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Brockell, Gillian. “A Gay First Lady? Yes, We've Already Had One, and Here Are Her Love Letters.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 24 June 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/20/she-was-once-first-lady-she-is-buried-next-her-longtime-female-partner/.

Unknown. “The Only Known Photograph of Rose Cleveland, Left, and Evangeline Simpson Whipple Together, Taken at Whipple’s Estate in Wayland, Mass., circa 1893. (Kingmill Marrs Photographs/ Massachusetts Historical Society).” The Washington Post, 20 June 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/06/20/she-was-once-first-lady-she-is-buried-next-her-longtime-female-partner/.

Cleveland, Rose Elizabeth, et al. Precious and Adored: the Love Letters of Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple, 1890-1918. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2019.

Moritz, Katie. “The Historic Minnesota Love Letters Almost Lost to Time.” TPT Originals, 31 Jan. 2020, www.tptoriginals.org/the-historic-minnesota-love-letters-almost-lost-to-time/.

Solly, Meilan. “New Book Chronicles First Lady Rose Cleveland's Love Affair With Evangeline Simpson Whipple.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 21 June 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-book-chronicles-first-lady-rose-clevelands-love-affair-evangeline-simpson-whipple-180972472/.

Williamson, Lori. “Rose Cleveland and Evangeline Simpson Whipple.” Minnesota Historical Society, 14 June 2019, www.mnhs.org/blog/collectionsupclose/11389.

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1910- Emma Goldman becomes first American to speak out about gay rights

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1910- Emma Goldman becomes first American to speak out about gay rights

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Although Emma Goldman initially came to America in 1885 from the Russian Empire, she became the first American and the first woman to publicly speak about LGBTQ+ rights. Goldman was a political activist and writer who helped develop anarchist political philosophy, as well as anarcho-feminism. “Anarchism and Other Essays” was published in 1910, throughout which Goldman shared her ideas about sexuality and gender. Having been moved by Oscar Wilde’s case in 1900, she felt strongly about gay rights, and continued to advocate for them despite opposition within the anarchist community. Goldman took her previous ideas about free love between men and women, and applied it to the queer community, for she believed that love and sexuality were crucial to self fulfillment. Throughout her life, Emma Goldman wrote and traveled across America on speaking tours where she shared opinions such as this: “It is a tragedy, I feel, that people of a different sexual type are caught in a world which shows so little understanding for homosexuals and is so crassly indifferent to the various gradations and variations of gender and their great significance in life.”
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Emma Goldman.” Jewish Women's Archive, jwa.org/womenofvalor/goldman.

“Emma Goldman.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 May 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman#Rochester,_New_York.

Grantham Bain, George. “Emma Goldman, 1919.” Jewish Women's Archive, jwa.org/media/goldmans-deportation-portrait.

Michelson, Noah. “Homo History: Emma Goldman.” OUT, Out Magazine, 13 Feb. 2017, www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2010/03/homo-history-emma-goldman.html.

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1924- Society for Human Rights is founded

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1924- Society for Human Rights is founded

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Henry Gerber, who cited German doctor Magnus Hirschfeld of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee as an inspiration, founded the first documented LGBTQ+ rights organization in the USA. The state of Illinois granted his ‘Society for Human Rights’ their charter on December 24, 1924, with their application saying that their purpose was “to promote and to protect the interests of people who by reasons of mental and physical abnormalities are abused and hindered in the legal pursuit of happiness which is guaranteed them by the Declaration of Independence and to combat the public prejudices against them by dissemination of facts according to modern science among intellectuals of mature age.” Gerber’s larger goal was to spread awareness and tolerance of queer people around Chicago and the rest of the country, but also was interested in creating a more organized politically aware LGBTQ+ subculture. His Society produced the first queer, American publication, ‘Friendship and Freedom’. This organization was forced to disband only a few months after its creation due to members being arrested on ‘obscenity charges’.
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Herman, Kimberly A. “North Crilly Court, Chicago, Illinois.” National Parks Service, 2015, www.nps.gov/articles/henry-gerber-house-national-historic-landmark.htm.

Unknown. “Henry Gerber House National Historic Landmark (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2015, www.nps.gov/articles/henry-gerber-house-national-historic-landmark.htm.

“LGBTQ Activism: The Henry Gerber House, Chicago, IL (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 20 Feb. 2018, www.nps.gov/articles/lgbtq-activism-henry-gerber-house-chicago-il.htm#:~:text=In%201924%20Henry%20Gerber%20founded,homosexual%20community%20than%20in%20America.

Salvo, Victor. “The Society for Human Rights.” Legacy Project Chicago, 2014, legacyprojectchicago.org/milestone/society-human-rights.

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Many Americans have learned about the Red Scare and McCarthyism, but few learned about a similar campaign called the Lavender Scare, taking place from the late 1940s to 1960s, which lasted longer than the Red Scare and impacted so many more. Led by US President at the time, Dwight D. Eisenhower and his administration, the Lavender Scare began with the Senate report, ‘Employment of Homosexuals and other Sex Perverts in Government’, which was of the opinion that the queer community would be more vulnerable to blackmail or coercion and shouldn’t be employed by the government. The report, which said “All of the agencies are in complete agreement that sex perverts in Government constitute security risks. The lack of emotional stability which is found in most sex perverts and the weakness of their moral fiber makes them susceptible to the blandishments of the foreign espionage agent,” was purely informational until Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10450, which said “WHEREAS the interests of the national security require that all person privileged to be employed in the departments and agencies of the Government, shall be reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and of complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States.” Eisenhower ordered the investigation, interrogation and systematic removal of gay and lesbian government employees, which in turn led to a moral panic all throughout America. Not only did the Lavender Scare cause almost 10,000 queer, government employees to seek other jobs, but it also normalized homophobic bureaucratic policies which added to the persecution of the queer community, and further ‘othered’ them in this country.
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Adkins, Judith. “‘These People Are Frightened to Death.’” National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, 2016, www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2016/summer/lavender.html.

Executive Order. No. 10450, 1953.

Gleason, James. “LGBT History: The Lavender Scare.” NGLCC, 2017, www.nglcc.org/blog/lgbt-history-lavender-scare.

Haynes, Suyin. “History You Didn't Learn About the Anti-Gay Lavender Scare.” Time, Time, 22 Dec. 2020, time.com/5922679/lavender-scare-history/.

Johnson, David K. “The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government.” Outhistory.org, outhistory.org/items/show/1425.

Unknown. “Chicago Tribune Article, April 20, 1953.” Out, 2013, www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/04/26/9-things-to%C2%A0know-about-lavender-scare.

United States, Congress, Cong. Senate, Subcommittee on Investigations, et al. Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government, US Government Printing Office, 1950. 81st Congress, 2nd session, report 241.

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Bilitis, pronounced ‘bi-luh-tuhs’, is an alternate name for the poet Sappho, and is fairly obscure, which is what Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon counted on. The Daughters of Bilitis, or DOB, was the first lesbian rights group in the USA, founded by several queer couples in San Francisco. Queer bars at the time were filled with harassment and prone to frequent raids, leading these couples to seek an alternative space for lesbians to socialize outside of the bars. The DOB began in 1955 as a social club, but quickly grew into a national civil rights and political rights organization with chapters nation-wide. The first lesbian periodical ‘The Ladder’ was published and distributed by this group and was very popular. In a 1959 issue, a question was sent to ‘A Lesbian Questionnaire’ asking if the DOB was an organized homosexual group. This response was published: “The DOB membership is comprised of women interested in the problems of the homosexual in our society– some mothers, some heterosexuals, and of course, Lesbians themselves. The Lesbian who joins would tend to be the thoughtful, public spirited, responsible type, for the organization places particular emphasis on helping her to understand herself and her relationship to society. If this means ‘organized homosexuals’, then it is an organization for social, not anti-social needs.” Being involved with the Daughters of Bilitis was not a risk free activity. Going to meetings meant taking a huge risk for fear of persecution or arrest. The DOB was also subject to surveillance from local police, the FBI, and the CIA until its 1970 disbandment.
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“A Lesbian Questionnaire.” The Ladder, May 1958, pp. 4–26. https://lalgbtcenter.org/images/OutForSafeSchools/Los-Angeles-LGBT-Center-October-Coming-Out-Handouts.pdf

“Daughters of Bilitis Center.” NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, 2017, www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/daughters-of-bilitis-center/.

“LGBTQ+ Studies: A Resource Guide: The Daughters of Bilitis.” Research Guides, guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall/daughters-of-bilitis.

“Los Angeles Conservancy.” Daughters of Bilitis | Los Angeles Conservancy, 2020, www.laconservancy.org/locations/daughters-bilitis.

“The Ladder.” The Ladder | ONE Archives, 1 Jan. 1970, one.usc.edu/archive-location/ladder.

Unknown. “Martin and Lyon, 1950s.” GLBT Historical Society, 2020, www.glbthistory.org/primary-source-set-lyon-and-martin.

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One of the more widely known events in LGBTQ+ history is the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The Stonewall Inn was an inn located in Greenwich Village in New York City, and was regarded as a safe place for queer people of all ages, including queer kids. Carter David said “The Stonewall became ‘home’ to these kids. When it was raided, they fought for it. That, and the fact that they had nothing to lose other than the most tolerant and broadminded gay place in town, explains why the Stonewall riots were begun, led, and spearheaded by ‘queens’.” Early in the morning of June 28, police raided the Inn resulting in 6 days of demonstrations led by the queer community in response. Although the uprising is widely considered one of the pivotal events leading to the gay liberation movement, it’s rarely talked about how it was led by trans women of color, and how it took only six months for at least two gay activist organizations being founded in New York City. Some of the more well known people involved were Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Seymour Pine, Stormé DeLaverie and Michael Fader. Michael Fader recounted, years after the riots, this: “We all had a collective feeling like we’d had enough of this kind of shit. It wasn’t anything tangible anybody said to anyone else, it was just kind of like everything over the years had to a head on that one particular night in that one particular place, and it wasn’t an organized demonstration...Everyone in the crowd felt that we were never going to go back. It was like the last straw. It was time to reclaim something that had always been taken from us…. All kinds of people, all different reasons, but mostly it was total outrage, anger, sorrow, everything combined, and everything just kind of ran its course. It was the police doing most of the destruction. We were really trying to get back in and break free. And we felt that we had freedom at last, or freedom to at least show we demanded freedom.” The Stonewall Uprising paved the way for the 20th century fight for queer rights in the United States of America, and worldwide.
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Carter, David. Stonewall: the Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. Griffin, 2011.

Franke-Ruta, Garance. “An Amazing 1969 Account of the Stonewall Uprising.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 24 January 2013, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/an-amazing-1969-account-of-the-stonewall-uprising/272467/.

History.com Editors. “Stonewall Riots.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 31 May 2017, www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots.

McDarrah, Fred W. “The Stonewall Riots Started in the Early Morning Hours of June 28, 1969, When Patrons of the Stonewall Inn Fought Back against a Police Raid. At the Time, Raids Were a Popular Occurrence at Gay Bars.” CNN, 2019, www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/06/us/stonewall-pride-fred-mcdarrah-cnnphotos/.

Piette, Alexandria. “In Remembrance Of The Stonewall Riots: The Lasting Impact On The LGBTQ+ Community.” Women's Republic, 9 June 2017, www.womensrepublic.net/in-remembrance-of-the-stonewall-riots-the-lasting-impact-on-the-lgbtq-community/.

Walsh, Colleen. “Harvard Scholars Reflect on the History and Legacy of the Stonewall Riots.” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 1 July 2019, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-scholars-reflect-on-the-history-and-legacy-of-the-stonewall-riots/.

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Although the existence of AIDS is common knowledge now, it took many years to reach such a point. On July 3, 1981, The New York Times published a short article titled ‘Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals’, which was the first published mention of Gay Related Immune Deficiency Disorder(GRIDD), currently known as AIDS. Written by Lawrence K. Altman, this article said “Doctors in New York and California have diagnosed among homosexual men 41 cases of a rare and often rapidly fatal form of cancer. Eight of the victims die less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made.” Although the symptoms were not exclusive to those in the LGBTQ community, it was thought to only affect them at the time. Albeit sparse, the NYT article spread knowledge about this new disease across America, and helped raise support and awareness in places other than the queer community. It took president at the time, Ronald Reagan, six years and thousands of activists marching on Washington to publicly address AIDS, which contributed to the difficulty of de-stigmatizing HIV and AIDS. Initially, New York City and San Francisco were the epicenters of AIDS, due to their larger queer population. Its significant impact in New York City led to the formation of the still active advocacy group, ACT UP(AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power). There still is lots of stigma around AIDS, and a strong association with the queer community, but has greatly improved since its first mention.
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Altman, Lawrence K. “RARE CANCER SEEN IN 41 HOMOSEXUALS.” The New York Times, 3 July 1981, p. 20.

Berman, Andrew. “‘Rare Cancer Seen In 41 Homosexuals.’” Village Preservation, 20 July 2020, www.villagepreservation.org/2014/07/02/thirty-three-years-ago-rare-cancer-seen-in-41-homosexuals/.

Peters, Jeremy W, et al. “Six Times Journalists on the Paper's History of Covering AIDS and Gay Issues.” Edited by Kurt Soller, The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/27/t-magazine/times-journalists-aids-gay-history.html.

Unknown. “NYT Article First Mentioning AIDS.” Back2Stonewall, 2020, www.back2stonewall.com/2020/07/july-3rd-1981-rare-cancer-seen-in-41-homosexuals.html.

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1994- Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is implemented

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1994- Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is implemented

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Although the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell(DADT) policy in the military was considered a ‘relaxation of restrictions on service’ at the time, it still was deeply harmful to the LGBTQ community in the USA. This policy prohibited the military from asking applicants or those serving about their sexual orientation, and prohibited discrimination and harassment of those in the closet, but barred openly queer people from serving and allowed the military to discharge anyone for any sign of being queer. The Department of Defense under the Clinton administration issued a directive in 1994, outlining standards for enlistment in the US military, which included this section: “Homosexual conduct is grounds for barring entry into the Armed Forces, except as otherwise provided in the section. Homosexual conduct is a homosexual act, a statement by the applicant that demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts, or a homosexual marriage or attempted marriage. Propensity to engage in homosexual acts means more than an abstract preference or desire to engage in homosexual acts, it indicates a likelihood that a person engages in or will engage in homosexual acts.” This directive was created because the presidential administration officially believed that any queer presence in the military would ‘create an unacceptable risk to high standards of morale, good order, discipline, and unit cohesion that are essential to military capability’. Unofficially, this policy’s main purpose was to ‘other’ the LGBTQ community in America. DADT was repealed in 2011 by the Obama administration, but during the 17 years it was active, prevented many queer people from serving in the military, and added to stigma in the US government about those in the queer community.
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Mears, Bill. “People Rally to Support the Repeal of ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell’ Policy in Boston in December, 2011.” CNN, 2011, edition.cnn.com/2011/US/07/06/dadt.ruling/.

Pruitt, Sarah. “Once Banned, Then Silenced: How Clinton's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy Affected LGBT Military.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 25 Apr. 2018, www.history.com/news/dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal-compromise.

United States, Congress, The Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Military Departments, and Leslie Aspin. Qualification Standards for Enlistment, Appointment, and Induction, US Department of Defense, 1993.

Various Contributors. “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_ask,_don%27t_tell#:~:text=The%20Clinton%20Administration%20on%20December,Charles%20Moskos%2C%20a%20military%20sociologist.