Gay Rights In The 1920s

In America, there is a staggering amount of approximately 9 million people who are categorized as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The gay rights movement has been a part of society since the early 1500s, however, the movement really started taking off in the 1920s. As the years went on, there were always supporters and critics of the movement. Some even went as far as parades and hate crimes. In the beginning of the movement gay culture thrived. The Harlem Renaissance introduced music and gay drag. During the middle there were many organizations advocating and spreading knowledge about gay culture and the movement. Closer to present day the atmosphere for homosexuals was more accepting. From the 1920s until present day, the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have moved
During the second world war, the Nazis held homosexual men in concentration camps, marking them with a pink triangle badge, which was assigned to sexual predators (“Gay Rights”). Labeling homosexuals with this badge was a huge discriminatory act. These people were marked and seen as sexual predators and treated as such. Gay men in the Nazi party were murdered and those in the concentration camps were often sent to prison, killed, or committed suicide. This was a change from the more accepting life before the war. Despite the fact that men were not accepted in the military, G.I. Janes were more than wanted. Many of these women were lesbians and had masculine qualities. These qualities in women were favored because the armed forces need women who could do a man's work (Alsenas 51). These women had the better end of the deal. During the war period, the fight for equality was succeeding in lesbian homosexuality, women were able to explore their sexuality and the higher ranking officers would look the other way, while men were thrown in prison and killed. The fight for equality was succeeding in lesbian