lesbian women and gay men served in the armed forces during world war 2 and other major conflicts.

Gradually, the growth of a public media and ideals of human rights drew together activists from all walks of life, who drew courage from sympathetic medical studies, banned literature, emerging sex research, and a climate of greater democracy.īy the 20th century, a movement in recognition of gays and lesbians was underway, abetted by the social climate of feminism and new anthropologies of difference. Whether an individual recognized they, too, shared this identity and were at risk, or dared to speak out for tolerance and change, there were few organizations or resources before the scientific and political revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. These paths of persecution entrenched homophobia for centuries-but also alerted entire populations to the existence of difference. Where homosexual activity or deviance from established gender roles/dress was banned by law or traditional custom, such condemnation might be communicated through sensational public trials, exile, medical warnings, and language from the pulpit. Social movements, organizing around the acceptance and rights of persons who might today identify as LGBT or queer, began as responses to centuries of persecution by church, state, and medical authorities.

Lesbian women and gay men served in the armed forces during world war 2 and other major conflicts.