Tag Archives: History

Boys Beware

Anti Gay Film: Boys Beware

Boys Beware (1961) may be retro, but that doesn’t mean to say it’s funny. Sometimes retro can be fun. It can be amusing to laugh at the idiotic opinions of our forebears. We can see how far we’ve come and take some kind of comfort in mocking the prejudices of yesteryear. On the other hand we can watch Boys Beware …

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Adolf Hitler

Nazi Persecution of Gay Men and Lesbians

Thriving gay and lesbian communities had developed in Germany from 1900 to the early 1930s. This changed when the Nazis came into power in 1933. The Nazis declared aim was the eradication of homosexuality. During 12 years in power they implemented a broad range of persecutory measures. An estimated 50,000 gay men were sentenced and imprisoned, some of whom faced …

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The Site of The Raid, Michael Macor, The San Francisco Chronicle

The Tay Bush Inn Raid

On Sept. 14, 1961 242 patrons, nearly all of them men, were packed into the Tay-Bush Inn at the Corner of Taylor and Bush in San Francisco. The photo shows the scene – a block of apartments occupies the block where the Inn was. Gary Kamiya tells SF Gate what happened on that night. “The Tay-Bush was a one-room cafe …

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The Eldorado after being closed down by the Nazis. Berlin, Germany

The Eldorado

The Eldorado was a famed destination in Berlin for lesbians, homosexual men, transvestites of both sexes, and tourists during the 1920’s and 30’s. As soon as the Nazis came to power, gay bars and clubs like the Eldorado were closed down. The “El Dorado” was situated at 29, Lutherstraße. It had a lavish floor show. It was closed down in …

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Nicholas Eden

The Gay Man in Margaret Thatcher’s Government

Nicholas Eden, 2nd Earl of Avon, was born on 3 October 1930 and died on 17 August 1985, from Aids. He was a British Conservative politician and was the younger son of former Prime Minister Anthony Eden and his first wife, Beatrice. He was educated at Eton. He succeeded in the earldom on the death of his father in 1977. …

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The Rockland Palace, New York City Gangs

Harlem’s Hidden Gay History: The Rockland Palace Drag Balls

The Hamilton Lodge was a black gay social group that held extravagant drag balls in Harlem, New York, in the 1930s. Prohibition put an end to the Hamilton Lodge drag formals at the Rockland Palace on West 155th Street. New York’s drag balls were given national exposure by the 1990 documentary “Paris is Burning.” Harlem’s gay scene was well known …

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Paul Patrick at London Pride, 2007

The London Gay Teachers Group

The London Gay Teachers Group, known as Schools’ Out, was co founded by the late Paul Patrick, who came out in 1969, before he became a teacher, and some colleagues. The organisation became an effective campaigning organisation which published a series of ground breaking discussions and booklets, including “Aids Hysteria” in 1987 and “Schools Out” in 1989. In 2004 Paul …

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South London Gay Community Centre

Gay Centres

During the 1970s era of gay liberation, gay centres were established usually by squatting in unused or unwanted, dilapidated premises in various cities around the world. One such gay centre was The South London Gay Community Centre at 78 Railton Road, Brixton, London, an empty shop, which was established in the mid 1970s. Gay centres afforded a safe space where, …

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Joseph Stalin

A Brief History of Homophobia in Russia

Stalin didn’t think much of gay rights. Dan Healy of the Moscow Times had given us a history of homophobia in Russia. “Orthodox clerics condemned sex between men and youths. They also condemned men who shaved, used make-up, or wore gaudy clothing as devotees of the “sodomitical sin.”” Peter the Great outlawed sex between men in his Military Code of …

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Lambda Symbol

Lambda

The lambda was selected as a symbol by the Gay Activists Alliance of New York in 1970, following the Stonewall Riots, and was declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1974. The lambda signifies unity under oppression. The Scottish Minorities Group hosted the first ever International Gay Rights …

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