1950s in LGBT rights
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place worldwide in the 1950s.
1950
- Donald Webster CoryEdward SagarinEdward Sagarin , also known by his pen name Donald Webster Cory, was an American professor of sociology and criminology at the City University of New York, and a writer...
publishes The Homosexual in America: A Subjective Approach. The book is hailed as one of the most important works in the history of the gay rights movement. - February — Under Secretary of StateUnder Secretary of StateThe Under Secretary of State, from 1919 to 1972, was the second-ranking official at the United States Department of State , serving as the Secretary's principal deputy, chief assistant, and Acting Secretary in the event of the Secretary's absence...
John Peurifoy tells a United States SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
committee of a "homosexual underground" in the State DepartmentUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
. His remarks along with gay baiting comments from Senator Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
help ignite the so-called "Lavender scareLavender scareThe Lavender Scare refers to the fear and persecution of homosexuals in the 1950s in the United States, which paralleled the anti-communist campaign known as McCarthyism....
". - November 11 — After two years of planning, five friends in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
found the Mattachine SocietyMattachine SocietyThe Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, the first major gay organization in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
1951
- August 28 — The Supreme Court of CaliforniaSupreme Court of CaliforniaThe Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
rules in Stoumen v. Reilly that the mere congregation of homosexuals at a bar was not sufficient grounds for suspending the bar's liquor license. The ruling came in the case of the Black Cat BarBlack Cat BarThe Black Cat Bar or Black Cat Café was a bar in San Francisco, California. It opened in 1906 and closed in 1921. The Black Cat re-opened in 1933 and operated for another 30 years...
, a San Francisco gay bar that was the target of a 15-year campaign by state and local authorities to shut it down.
1952
- June 23 — Following his arrest on charges of "lewd behavior", Mattachine Society co-founder Dale Jennings exercises his right to a jury trial in an era when men almost uniformly pleaded guilty to such charges. At trial he acknowledges his homosexuality but denies the specific charge. The jury deadlocks 11-1 for acquittal and the charges are dropped. Mattachine declares a legal victory and membership in the Society swells.
- November 15 — articles of incorporation for One, Inc.ONE, Inc.ONE, Inc. was an early gay rights organization in the United States.The idea for a publication dedicated to homosexuals emerged from a Mattachine Society discussion meeting held on October 15, 1952....
, an early homophileHomophileThe word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s....
group, are signed.
1953
- Alfred KinseyAlfred KinseyAlfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...
and the Institute for Sex Research publish Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, the second of two Kinsey ReportsKinsey ReportsThe Kinsey Reports are two books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female , by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others and published by Saunders...
. - April 27 — President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
signs Executive Order 10450Executive Order 10450President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 in April 1953, effective May 27, 1953. It revoked Truman's 1947 Executive Order 9835 and dismantled its Loyalty Review Board...
. Among other effects, the order establishes "sexual perversion" as grounds for the investigation and dismissal of federal employees.
1954
- March 16 — The Army–McCarthy hearings convene to investigate conflicting charges made by the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and Senator Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
about allegations of preferential treatment that McCarthy and his aide Roy CohnRoy CohnRoy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
had secured for Cohn's friend David Schine. The hearings include inquiries into the supposed security risks posed by homosexuals employed by the federal government and include instances of gay-baiting by Special Counsel for the Army Joseph WelchJoseph WelchJoseph Nye Welch was the head counsel for the United States Army while it was under investigation by Joseph McCarthy's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for Communist activities, an investigation known as the Army-McCarthy Hearings.- Early life :Welch was born in Primghar, Iowa on...
. Notably, Welch defines a pixiePixiePixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed...
as being "a close relative of a fairy". "Fairy" is a slang term for "homosexual" and Welch's remark is interpreted as a jibe at Cohn, a closetedClosetedCloseted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
homosexual. - August — Following a series of high-profile arrests and trials, the Wolfendon Commission is formed in England to examine the possibility of reforming the laws relating to male homosexual conduct.
1955
- The New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
chapter of the Mattachine Society is founded. - April 14 — in the wake of a moral panicMoral panicA moral panic is the intensity of feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order. According to Stanley Cohen, author of Folk Devils and Moral Panics and credited creator of the term, a moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of...
brought on by the sexual assault and murder of a boy in 1954, IowaIowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
enacts a "sexual psycopath" law, allowing for the involuntary commitment of anyone charged with a public offense who possessed "criminal propensities toward the commission of sex offenses". Twenty gay men from the Sioux CitySioux City, IowaSioux City is a city in Plymouth and Woodbury counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 82,684 in the 2010 census, a decline from 85,013 in the 2000 census, which makes it currently the fourth largest city in the state....
area, none of them suspected of having any connection with the crime that inspired the law, were committed in 1955. Another 13 men were arrested in a sweep in 1958, but were not committed as sexual psychopaths. - October 19 — The Daughters of BilitisDaughters of BilitisThe Daughters of Bilitis , was the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. It was formed in San Francisco in 1955, conceived as a social alternative to lesbian bars, which were considered illegal and thus subject to raids and police harassment...
, the first American organization specifically for lesbians, is founded in San Francisco. - October 31 — Three men are arrested in Boise, IdahoBoise, IdahoBoise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
on charges of lewd conduct and sodomy, inciting a moral panic in BoiseBoise homosexuality scandalThe Boise homosexuality scandal refers to a sweeping investigation of a supposed "homosexual underground" in Boise, Idaho that started in 1955. Beginning with the arrest of three men in October 1955, the investigation broadened to encompass allegations that over 100 young men and teenage boys had...
that resulted in 16 arrests, 15 convictions and almost 1,500 people being questioned. - December 20 — Frank Kameny is fired from his job as an astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
in the United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
's Map Service in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
because of his homosexuality. A few days later he is blacklistedBlacklistA blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
from seeking federal employment. These events spur Kameny into being a gay rights activist. - December 22 — The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
denies an appeal from Raymond W. Longernecker, whom the Veterans AdministrationUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsThe United States Department of Veterans Affairs is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is the United States government’s second largest department, after the United States Department of Defense...
(VA) had denied benefits under the G.I. Bill. Longernecker held a blue dischargeBlue dischargeA blue discharge was a form of administrative military discharge formerly issued by the United States beginning in 1916. It was neither honorable nor dishonorable. The blue ticket became the discharge of choice for commanders seeking to remove homosexual service members from the ranks...
, which meant he had been separated from military service under conditions neither honorable nor dishonorable. The Court found that two laws specifically denied the courts jurisdiction over such decisions by the VA Administrator. Nevertheless, the Court noted that the denial of benefits should only have occurred if Longernecker had been dishonorably discharged and that the VA Administrator was acting without authority in treating a blue discharge as if it were dishonorable.
1957
- The Homosexual Law Reform Society forms in England for the sole purpose of decriminalizing homosexual acts.
- September 4 — The Wolfenden reportWolfenden reportThe Report of the Departmental Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution was published in Britain on 4 September 1957 after a succession of well-known men, including Lord Montagu, Michael Pitt-Rivers and Peter Wildeblood, were convicted of homosexual offences.-The committee:The...
is published in England. The committee recommends "that homosexual behavior between consenting adults in private should no longer be a criminal offense". The committee also recommended that the age of consent for sexual acts between men be set at 21, in contrast to 16 for heterosexual and lesbian sex.
1958
- January 13 — The United States Supreme Court issues the landmark decision One, Inc. v. OlesenOne, Inc. v. OlesenOne, Inc. v. Olesen is a landmark United States Supreme Court decision for LGBT rights in the United States. ONE, Inc., a spinoff of the Mattachine Society, published the early pro-gay "ONE: The Homosexual Magazine" beginning in 1953. After a campaign of harassment from the U.S...
. The Court rules that ONE: The Homosexual Magazine was not an obscene publication. This marks the first time that the Supreme Court rules on a gay issue.
1959
- May — LGBT people clash with police at Cooper's Donuts, a hang-out for drag queens and street hustlersMale prostitutionMale prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual acts for money. Compared to female sex workers, male sex workers have been far less studied by researchers, and while studies suggest that there are differences between the ways these two groups look at their work, more research is needed.Male...
who were frequently harassed by the Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
(LAPD). Police arrest three people, including John RechyJohn RechyJohn Francis Rechy, , is an American author, the child of a half-Scottish and half-Mexican father, Roberto Rechy, and a Mexican-American mother, Guadalupe Flores. In his novels he has written extensively about homosexual culture in Los Angeles and wider America, and is among the pioneers of modern...
, but other patrons begin pelting the police with donuts and coffee cups. The LAPD calls for back-up and arrests a number of rioters. Rechy and the other two original detainees are able to escape. - December 23 — In Vallerga v. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Supreme Court of CaliforniaSupreme Court of CaliforniaThe Supreme Court of California is the highest state court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco and regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.-Composition:...
rules that a 1955 statute allowing ABC to revoke the liquor license of any establishment that was a "resort ... for sexual perverts" violated the state constitution. The court indicates that had the revocation been based on accusations of homosexual conduct rather than the mere gathering of homosexuals, it might have upheld the statute. It established the right of LGBT people to congregate in California as long as they did not express their sexuality physically.
See also
- Timeline of LGBT historyTimeline of LGBT historyThe following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender related history.-9660 to 5000 BC:* Mesolithic rock art in Sicily depicts phallic male figures in pairs that have been interpreted variously, including as depictions of homosexual intercourse.-7000 to 1700 BC:*Among the sexual...
— timeline of events from 12,000 BCE to present - LGBT rights by country or territory — current legal status around the world
- LGBT social movementsLGBT social movementsLesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...