Homophile
Encyclopedia
The 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.
The term homophile is favoured by some because it emphasizes love ("-phile
" from Greek
φιλία) rather than sex. Coined by the German astrologist, author and psychoanalyst Karl-Günther Heimsoth in his 1924 doctoral dissertation "Hetero- und Homophilie," the term was in common use in the 1950s and 1960s by homosexual organizations and publications; the groups of this period are now known collectively as the homophile movement.
The term homophile began to disappear with the emergence of the Gay Liberation
movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s, replaced by a new set of terminology such as gay
, lesbian
, bisexual, and transgender
, although some of the homophile groups survived until the 1980s, 90s and even the present day.
In an 1896 article on vivisection
in "Proceedings of the American Microscopical Society" Pierre A. Fish used the term "homophiles" in a hybrid
way ('homo' in this case being latin
for 'man'), denoting advocates of vivisection – as opposed to antivivisectionists whom he called 'zoophiles'. This usage has not been widely acknowledged.
) and activists (Magnus Hirschfeld
, Ernst Burchard
, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
or Max Spohr
), went from being the best place in Europe to be gay, lesbian or transgendered, to the worst, under the Nazis. The Swiss journal Der Kreis ("the circle") was the only homosexual publication in Europe to publish during the Nazi era. Der Kreis was edited by Anna Vock, and later Karl Meier; the group gradually shifted from being female-dominated to male-dominated through the 1930s, as the tone of the magazine simultaneously became less militant.
After the war, organizations began to re-form, such as the Dutch COC
in 1946. Other, new organizations arose, including Forbundet af 1948 ("League of 1948"), founded by Axel Axgil in Denmark, with Helmer Fogedgaard publishing an associated magazine called Vennen (The Friend) from January 1949 until 1953. Fogedgaard used the pseudonym "Homophilos," introducing the concept of "homophile" in May 1950, unaware that the word had been presented as an alternative term a few months previously by Jaap van Leeuwen, one of the founders of the Dutch COC. The word soon spread among members of the emerging post-war movement who were happy to emphasize the respectable romantic side of their relationships over genital sexuality.
A Swedish branch of Forbundet af 1948 was formed in 1949 and a Norwegian branch in 1950. The Swedish organization became independent under the name Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande
(RFSL, "Federation for Sexual Equality") in 1950, led by Allan Hellman. The same year in the United States, the Mattachine Society
was formed, and other organizations such as ONE, Inc.
(1952) and the Daughters of Bilitis
(1955) soon followed. By 1954, the monthly sales of ONE's magazine peaked at 16,000. Homophile organizations elsewhere include Arcadie
(1954) in France and the British Homosexual Law Reform Society
(founded 1958).
These groups are generally considered to have been politically cautious, in comparison to the LGBT movements that both preceded and followed them. Historian Michael Sibalis describes the belief of the French homophile group Arcadie, "that public hostility to homosexuals resulted largely from their outrageous and promiscuous behaviour; homophiles would win the good opinion of the public and the authorities by showing themselves to be discreet, dignified, virtuous and respectable." However, while few were prepared to come out
, they did risk severe persecution, and some figures within the Homophile movement such as the American communist Harry Hay
were more radical.
By the mid 1960s, gays, lesbians and transpeople in the United States were forming more visible communities, and this was reflected in the political strategies of American homophile groups. From the mid-1960s, they engaged in picketing and sit-ins, identifying themselves in public space for the first time. Formed in 1964, the San Franciscan Society for Individual Rights (SIR) had a new openness and a more participatory democratic structure. SIR was focused on building community, and sponsored drag shows, dinners, bridge clubs, bowling leagues, softball games, field trips, art classes and meditation groups. In 1966, SIR opened the nation's first gay and lesbian community center, and by 1968 they had over 1000 members, making them the largest homophile organization in the country. The world's first gay bookstore had opened in New York the year before. A 1965 gay picket held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia
, according to some historians, marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Meanwhile in San Francisco in 1966, transgender street prostitutes in the poor neighborhood of Tenderloin
rioted against police harassment at a popular all-night restaurant, Gene Compton's Cafeteria.
These and other activities of public resistance to oppression lead to a feeling of Gay Liberation
that was soon to give a name to a new movement.
In 1963, homophile organizations in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. joined together to form East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) to more closely coordinate their activities. The success of ECHO inspired other homophile groups across the country to explore the idea of forming a national homophile umbrella group. This was done with the formation in 1966 of the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations
(NACHO, rhymes with Waco). NACHO held annual conferences, helped start dozens of local gay groups across the country and issued position papers on a variety of LGBT-related issues. It organized national demonstrations, including a May 1966 action against military discrimination that included the country's first gay motorcade. Through its legal defense fund, NACHO challenged anti-gay laws and regulations ranging from immigration issues and military service to the legality of serving alcohol to homosexuals. NACHO disbanded after a contentious 1970 conference at which older members and younger members, radicalized in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall riots
, clashed. Gay Sunshine magazine declared the convention "the battle that ended the homophile movement".
Meanwhile the Church of England
has used the term "homophile" in certain contexts since at least 1991 – e.g., "homophile orientation" and "sexually active homophile relationship".
In recent years the term has also been adopted by anti-gay groups and Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the United States
and Poland
, as a term of abuse for gay men and lesbians by attempting to imply a link between homosexuality and paedophilia. However crime statistics and studies on gay parenting have failed to demonstrate any higher prevalence of child abuse by gay or lesbian criminals or parents when compared to heterosexual criminals or parents.
France
The Netherlands
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.
The term homophile is favoured by some because it emphasizes love ("-phile
-phil-
Suffixes with the common part -phil- are used to specify some kind of attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something...
" from Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
φιλία) rather than sex. Coined by the German astrologist, author and psychoanalyst Karl-Günther Heimsoth in his 1924 doctoral dissertation "Hetero- und Homophilie," the term was in common use in the 1950s and 1960s by homosexual organizations and publications; the groups of this period are now known collectively as the homophile movement.
The term homophile began to disappear with the emergence of the Gay Liberation
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s, replaced by a new set of terminology such as gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, bisexual, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
, although some of the homophile groups survived until the 1980s, 90s and even the present day.
In an 1896 article on vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
in "Proceedings of the American Microscopical Society" Pierre A. Fish used the term "homophiles" in a hybrid
Hybrid word
A hybrid word is a word which etymologically has one part derived from one language and another part derived from a different language.-Common hybrids:The most common form of hybrid word in English is one which combines etymologically Latin and Greek parts...
way ('homo' in this case being latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
for 'man'), denoting advocates of vivisection – as opposed to antivivisectionists whom he called 'zoophiles'. This usage has not been widely acknowledged.
History
After the gains made by the homosexual rights movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the vibrant homosexual subcultures of the 20s and 30s became silent as war engulfed Europe. Germany, the traditional home of such movements (Scientific-Humanitarian CommitteeScientific-Humanitarian Committee
The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15 May, 1897, to campaign for social recognition of homosexual, bisexual and transgender men and women, and against their legal persecution...
) and activists (Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which Dustin Goltz called "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights."-Early life:Hirschfeld was born in Kolberg in a...
, Ernst Burchard
Ernst Burchard
Ernst Burchard was a German physician, sexologist, and gay rights advocate and author.Burchard was born in Heilsberg . He studied medicine in Tübingen, Würzburg and Kiel, taking his doctoral degree in 1900 with a dissertation on Einige Fälle von vorübergehender Glycosurie...
, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
for the periodical directory, see Ulrich's Periodicals DirectoryKarl-Heinrich Ulrichs , is seen today as the pioneer of the modern gay rights movement.-Early life:...
or Max Spohr
Max Spohr
Johannes Hermann August Wilhelm Max Spohr was a German bookseller and publisher. He was one of the first publishers worldwide, who published LGBT publications...
), went from being the best place in Europe to be gay, lesbian or transgendered, to the worst, under the Nazis. The Swiss journal Der Kreis ("the circle") was the only homosexual publication in Europe to publish during the Nazi era. Der Kreis was edited by Anna Vock, and later Karl Meier; the group gradually shifted from being female-dominated to male-dominated through the 1930s, as the tone of the magazine simultaneously became less militant.
After the war, organizations began to re-form, such as the Dutch COC
COC Nederland
COC Nederland is a Dutch organization for LGBT men and women. COC originally stood for Cultuur en Ontspanningscentrum , which was intended as a "cover" name for its real purpose...
in 1946. Other, new organizations arose, including Forbundet af 1948 ("League of 1948"), founded by Axel Axgil in Denmark, with Helmer Fogedgaard publishing an associated magazine called Vennen (The Friend) from January 1949 until 1953. Fogedgaard used the pseudonym "Homophilos," introducing the concept of "homophile" in May 1950, unaware that the word had been presented as an alternative term a few months previously by Jaap van Leeuwen, one of the founders of the Dutch COC. The word soon spread among members of the emerging post-war movement who were happy to emphasize the respectable romantic side of their relationships over genital sexuality.
A Swedish branch of Forbundet af 1948 was formed in 1949 and a Norwegian branch in 1950. The Swedish organization became independent under the name Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights is a Swedish organization working for LGBT rights.It was founded in 1950, which makes it one of the oldest LGBT rights organizations in the world...
(RFSL, "Federation for Sexual Equality") in 1950, led by Allan Hellman. The same year in the United States, the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The 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...
was formed, and other organizations such as 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....
(1952) and the Daughters of Bilitis
Daughters of Bilitis
The 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...
(1955) soon followed. By 1954, the monthly sales of ONE's magazine peaked at 16,000. Homophile organizations elsewhere include Arcadie
Arcadie Club
The Arcadie Club was a French homophile organization established in the early 1950s by André Baudry, an ex-seminarian and philosophy professor.-Literary review:...
(1954) in France and the British Homosexual Law Reform Society
Homosexual Law Reform Society
The Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation that campaigned in the United Kingdom for changes in the laws that criminalised homosexual relations between men.- History :...
(founded 1958).
These groups are generally considered to have been politically cautious, in comparison to the LGBT movements that both preceded and followed them. Historian Michael Sibalis describes the belief of the French homophile group Arcadie, "that public hostility to homosexuals resulted largely from their outrageous and promiscuous behaviour; homophiles would win the good opinion of the public and the authorities by showing themselves to be discreet, dignified, virtuous and respectable." However, while few were prepared to come out
Come Out
Come Out may refer to:*Come Out , a music piece by Steve Reich*Coming out, disclosing one's homosexuality or bisexuality.*"Come Out", a song by Camper van Beethoven from New Roman Times...
, they did risk severe persecution, and some figures within the Homophile movement such as the American communist Harry Hay
Harry Hay
Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...
were more radical.
By the mid 1960s, gays, lesbians and transpeople in the United States were forming more visible communities, and this was reflected in the political strategies of American homophile groups. From the mid-1960s, they engaged in picketing and sit-ins, identifying themselves in public space for the first time. Formed in 1964, the San Franciscan Society for Individual Rights (SIR) had a new openness and a more participatory democratic structure. SIR was focused on building community, and sponsored drag shows, dinners, bridge clubs, bowling leagues, softball games, field trips, art classes and meditation groups. In 1966, SIR opened the nation's first gay and lesbian community center, and by 1968 they had over 1000 members, making them the largest homophile organization in the country. The world's first gay bookstore had opened in New York the year before. A 1965 gay picket held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia
Annual Reminder
The Annual Reminders were a series of early pickets organized by homophile organizations. The Reminder took place each July 4 at Independence Hall in Philadelphia beginning in 1965 and were among the earliest LGBT demonstrations in the United States...
, according to some historians, marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Meanwhile in San Francisco in 1966, transgender street prostitutes in the poor neighborhood of Tenderloin
Tenderloin, San Francisco, California
The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco, California, in the flatlands on the southern slope of Nob Hill, nestled between the Union Square shopping district to the northeast and the Civic Center office district to the southwest...
rioted against police harassment at a popular all-night restaurant, Gene Compton's Cafeteria.
Compton's cafeteria riot
The Compton's Cafeteria Riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. This incident was one of the first recorded transgender riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.A smaller-scale riot broke out in 1959 in Los...
These and other activities of public resistance to oppression lead to a feeling of Gay Liberation
Gay Liberation
Gay liberation is the name used to describe the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement of the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s in North America, Western Europe, and Australia and New Zealand...
that was soon to give a name to a new movement.
In 1963, homophile organizations in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. joined together to form East Coast Homophile Organizations (ECHO) to more closely coordinate their activities. The success of ECHO inspired other homophile groups across the country to explore the idea of forming a national homophile umbrella group. This was done with the formation in 1966 of the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations
North American Conference of Homophile Organizations
The North American Conference of Homophile Organizations was an umbrella organization for a number of homophile organizations. Founded in 1966, the goal of NACHO was to expand coordination among homophile organizations throughout the Americas. Homophile activists were motivated in part by an...
(NACHO, rhymes with Waco). NACHO held annual conferences, helped start dozens of local gay groups across the country and issued position papers on a variety of LGBT-related issues. It organized national demonstrations, including a May 1966 action against military discrimination that included the country's first gay motorcade. Through its legal defense fund, NACHO challenged anti-gay laws and regulations ranging from immigration issues and military service to the legality of serving alcohol to homosexuals. NACHO disbanded after a contentious 1970 conference at which older members and younger members, radicalized in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
, clashed. Gay Sunshine magazine declared the convention "the battle that ended the homophile movement".
Meanwhile the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
has used the term "homophile" in certain contexts since at least 1991 – e.g., "homophile orientation" and "sexually active homophile relationship".
In recent years the term has also been adopted by anti-gay groups and Christian fundamentalists, particularly in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, as a term of abuse for gay men and lesbians by attempting to imply a link between homosexuality and paedophilia. However crime statistics and studies on gay parenting have failed to demonstrate any higher prevalence of child abuse by gay or lesbian criminals or parents when compared to heterosexual criminals or parents.
List of organisations and publications
Denmark- Forbundet af 1948 (1948–?) and Pan (1954–present)
- International Homosexual World Organisation (IHWO), 1952? – first half of 1970s, political since second half of 1960s, founded by Axel and Eigil AxgilAxel and Eigil AxgilAxel Axgil and Eigil Axgil were Danish gay activists and a longtime couple. They were the first gay couple to enter into a registered partnership anywhere in the world following Denmark's legalisation of same-sex partnership registration in 1989, a landmark legislation which they were...
, German chapter named: Internationale Homophile Welt-Organisation)
France
- Arcadie (journal, published 1954–1982), and organisation with the same name. Often published with the subtitle "Mouvement homophile de France".
The Netherlands
- COCCOC NederlandCOC Nederland is a Dutch organization for LGBT men and women. COC originally stood for Cultuur en Ontspanningscentrum , which was intended as a "cover" name for its real purpose...
(1946–present) is the earliest homophile organisation. Their first magazine, Vriendschap, was published from 1949 to 1964 (available online). They also produced a number of other publications.
Sweden
- RFSL, Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande — "Federation for Sexual Equality", known since 2007 as the "Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights" (1950–present)
United Kingdom
- Homosexual Law Reform SocietyHomosexual Law Reform SocietyThe Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation that campaigned in the United Kingdom for changes in the laws that criminalised homosexual relations between men.- History :...
(1958–1970 when it was renamed as the Sexual Law Reform Society). The HLRS was formed as a response to the 1957 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...
. Most of the members were heterosexual. - Campaign for Homosexual EqualityCampaign for Homosexual EqualityThe Campaign for Homosexual Equality is one of the oldest gay rights organisations in the United Kingdom. It is a membership organisation which aims to promote legal and social equality for lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in England and Wales...
(1964–present)
United States
- Vice VersaVice Versa (magazine)Subtitled "America's Gayest Magazine", Vice Versa is the earliest known U.S. periodical published especially for lesbians, as well as the earliest extant example of the lesbian and gay press in that country....
: America's Gayest Magazine (1947–1948), the first lesbian periodical in the United States, was free. Lisa Ben (an anagram of “lesbian”), the 25-year old Los Angeles secretary who created Vice Versa, chose the name “because in those days our kind of life was considered a vice.” - Knights of the ClockKnights of the ClockThe Cloistered Order of Conclaved Knights of Sophisticracy, more commonly known as the Knights of the Clock, was an interracial homophile social club based in Los Angeles, California. The Knights were founded by Merton Bird, an African-American man, and W. Dorr Legg, his white lover. Sources differ...
(c. 1950—?); first interracial gay organization. Focused on social activities but also worked on employment and housing concerns for interracial couples. - 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...
(1950–1987) and the Mattachine Review (1955–1966); Homosexual Citizen, (published by the Washington chapter, 1966–?) - 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...
(1955–present) and The LadderThe Ladder (magazine)The Ladder was the first nationally distributed lesbian publication in the United States. It was published monthly from 1956 to 1970, and once every other month in 1971 and 1972. It was the primary publication and method of communication for the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian organization...
(1956–1972); Focus (published by the Boston chapter, 1971–1983); Sisters, (National, published in San Francisco, 1971–1975). - 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....
(1952–present) and One magazine (1953–1972); Homophile Studies (1958–1964) - The League for Civil Education (1960 or 1961–?) and The LCE News (1961–?)
- The Janus SocietyJanus SocietyThe Janus Society was an early homophile organization based in Philadelphia. It is notable as the publisher of DRUM magazine, one of the earliest LGBT-interest publications in the United States, and for its role in organizing many of the nation's earliest LGBT rights demonstrations.-Drum:Drum was...
(1962–1969) and DRUMDrum (American magazine)Drum was an American LGBT-interest magazine based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Published monthly beginning in 1964 by the homophile activist group the Janus Society and edited by Clark Polak, Drum took its title from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "If a man does not keep pace with his...
magazine (1964–1969). A racy gay-male oriented magazine, DRUM reached a circulation of 10,000 by 1966. - Society for Individual Rights (1964–1976) and Vector (1965–1977)
- The Homosexual Law Reform SocietyHomosexual Law Reform SocietyThe Homosexual Law Reform Society was an organisation that campaigned in the United Kingdom for changes in the laws that criminalised homosexual relations between men.- History :...
(1965–1969) - Phoenix Society for Individual Freedom, Kansas City MO, and The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice, (1966–1972)
- Society Advocating Mutual Equality (SAME) (1966–1968), Rock Island IL, "The Challenger" newsletter
- Homophile Action League (Philadelphia) and the HAL Newsletter (1969–1970)