queered timeline
[part one: before the 19th century]

Ancient Worlds

About 2500 B.C.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

A tale of love between two "friends"; the harsh king of Uruk, Gilgamesh; and a stranger, Enkidu, sent by the gods to temper the king.

About 1900 B.C.

Sodom and Gomorrah

According to Chapter 19 of the Book of Genesis, the cities are destroyed by fire and brimstone. Centuries later, this story was interpreted by Philo of Alexandria and other religious writers as an angry God's punishment for the homosexuality of the inhabitants.

594 B.C.

Solon rules Athens

Empowered to write new law code, Solon declares the death penalty for any unauthorized adult male who mingled in a schoolyard with boys below the age of puberty. He apparently had no problem with relationships between adult men and post-pubescent youth... his own poetry includes such unmistakably homoerotic lines as "Boys in the flower of their youth are loved."

580s B.C.

Sappho's School for Girls

Situated on the Greek isle of Lesbos, Sappho's school for girls flourished, as did the exquisite love poems she wrote to her students.

About 393-387 B.C.

Plato's works celebrating male to male love

During this decade long period, Plato wrote The Symposium, Phaedrus, among other works in which he spoke of the free expression of love between adult males.

About 371 B.C.

The Sacred Band of Thebes

A military unit formed in Greece consisting of some 150 male couples, believing that men fight alongside their lovers would die together rather than shame one another. The Band was annihilated by Philip of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great, during the Battle of Chaeronea.

About A.D. 60

Saint Paul's writings to the Romans

Several biblical passages, especially Romans 1:26-27 and I Cor. 6-9 have been used to support homophobia. Scholar John Boswell points out the translations which lead to this interpretation probably do no reflect the real intent of the writer.

See Daniel Helminiak's, What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality or Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality by John Boswell.

53

Emperor Justinian I

Combining Roman law and Christian morality, the emperor decrees homosexuality and blasphemy as equally to blame for the famines, earthquakes and pestilences. He orders offenders of these 'crimes' castrated.

About 650

The Cummean Penitential

A manual used by priest to provide guidelines for homosexual sin. The nature of the offense and age of the offender were taken into account.

"Simple kissing" by two males under the age of 20 called for six special fasts; kissing "with emission or embrace" required ten. Mutual masturbation by men over 20 made the offenders liable to twenty days penance; for anal intercourse the period jumped to 7 years.

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Medieval Times

1073

Sappho's poems destroyed

All known copies of the earliest lesbian writing, the love poems of Sappho, are burned by ecclesiastical authorities in Constantinople and Rome. As a consequence, we have only one-twentieth of her total output; and this because of a freak archaeological dig in 1897.

1210-15

The Council of Paris declares sodomy a capital offense.

1252

St Thomas of Aquinas begins teaching

Declaring that God created the sex organs specifically and exclusively for reproduction, homosexual acts were thus "unnatural" and heretical. he was not the first to take this stand, but because of his enormous influence with the church, Aquinas' statements did much to increase intolerance.

About 1260

Law Codes from Orleans

The legal school of Orleans orders women guilty of lesbian acts have their clitoris removed for the first offense; that they be further mutilated for a second; and burned at the stake for a third

1310

Order of Templars arrested

King Philip orders the arrest of all French members of the Order of Templars [October 12]. They are charged with heresy, sodomy and being in league with the Moslems. Many were tortured and then executed. Benefits to Philip by the arrest included confiscating property belonging to the members. Modern scholars still disagree on the accuracy of the allegations.

1450-53

Spanish Inquisition

Pope Nicholas empowers the Spanish Inquisition to investigate and punish homosexuality.

1513

Balboa in the New World

From his explorations of modern day Panama, Balboa reports "the most abominable and unnatural lechery is practiced by the King's brother and many other younger men in women's apparel." Forty offenders were reportedly thrown to his dogs.

Balboa's observations was echoed by others throughout the rest of the century. One anonymous conquistador reported in 1519 he found the Mayan people to be "great sodomites"; a later explorer wrote to Europe everyone in the New World seemed to practice sodomy.

Homosexuality was accepted in the Mayan civilization, often portraying anal intercourse between men in its art. Male homosexuality and lesbianism was practiced, but not accepted by the Aztec and Incas. These cultures were known, on occasion, to punish such acts by death.

1553

"Buggery" law passed

English law decrees a penalty of death for "the detestable and abominable Vice of Buggery committed with mankind or beast." This was the first time the crime was covered under civil law; previously a church matter.

1583

Third Provincial Council of Lima

The Provincial Council of Lima [Peru], in promulgating Christianity to the native populace, tells them "sodomy, whether with another man, or with a boy, or a beast . . . carries the death penalty . . . and the reason God has allowed that you, the Indians, should be so afflicted and vexed by other nations is because of this vice that your ancestors hand, and many of you still have."

1585

Earliest known case of masochism

Sister Mary Magdalene de Pazzi begs other nuns to tie her up and hurl hot wax at her. Also has a novice thrash her.

1610

Anti-sodomy laws in New World

The Virginia colony becomes the first colony of the New World to pass legislation against sodomy, condemning offenders to death.

1624

First Sodomy Trial in New World

Richard Cornish is tried and the first to be convicted of sodomy, in spite of "flimsy" evidence. He his hanged.

1641-42

Massachusetts colony incorporates biblical language into laws

The massachusetts Bay Colony incorporates the language of Leviticus 20:13 into its laws:

"If a man lyeth with mankinde, as he lyeth with a woman, both of them have committed abomination, they both shall be surely put to death."

Other New England colonies soon follow.

1649

Mary Hammon and Goodwife Norman are charged with "lude behavior upon a bed" in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The charges against Hammon are dropped, but Norman is convicted and ordered to make a public confession. The first woman in America known to be convicted of lesbian activity.

1655

Definition of sodomy expanded

The colony of New Haven expands it's definition of sodomy — a capital offense — to include sexual relations between women.

1682

Tale of Lesbian nuns published

Venus in the Cloister, or the Nun in her Smock, is published in France, creating a scandal. The work, on reading, seems to have been written to titillate male readers rather than portray real life.

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Modern Age

1730-31

Homosexual network uncovered

Authorities in Amsterdam announce the discovery of a homosexual network, resulting in 300 prosecutions and 70 executions.

1810

Lesbianism at girls' school

The mother of schoolgirl accuse Marianne Woods and Jane Pirie, mistresses at the school, of "improper and criminal conduct" with each other. The british courts debate whether a sexual relationship between women is even possible. Lillian Hellman used this tale as the basis for her play, The Children's Hour.

1828

Buggery law changed

English Parliament closes a loophole in the definition of the capital crime of buggery. It is no longer necessary to demonstrate "the actual Emission of Seed" to convict of buggery or rape. "Carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon Proof of Penetration only."

1848

Women's Rights Convention

The first WRC is organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Passes a "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" (based on the U.S. Declaration of Independence). This convention is seen as the precursor of the modern feminist movement, and provides support and communication for many lesbian and bisexual women.

1860

Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman's second edition released. The homoeroticism of his poetry is more evident than the first edition. The book provoked much public debate about Whitman's sexuality, and inspired other gay poets in years to come.

1861

Death penalty eliminated

England dropped the death penalty for male homosexual acts; subjecting offenders instead to 10 years to life imprisonment. The change was a rethinking of capital punishment, not homosexuality.

1863

Ulrichs is first to 'Come Out'

Karl Ulrichs, speaking at a conference of Jurists in Munich, becomes the first person in modern times to declare himself homosexual. Although he used the term, "Urning," Ulrichs continued to speak out for gay rights.

1869

Homosexual first used

In an anonymous pamphlet calling for the repeal of anti-sodomy laws, Karl Maria Kertbeny introduces the term homosexual.

1870

First American gay novel

Prominent poet Bayard Taylor publishes, Joseph and His Friend. It is dedicated "to those who believe in the truth and tenderness of man's love for man, as of man's love for woman."

1891

Scholarly review of literature

John Addington Symonds's, A Problem in Modern Ethics offers a systematic review of scholarly literature on homosexuality.

1895

Oscar Wilde trial

The trial for "unnatural acts" committed with the young Lord Alfred Douglas caused a public sensation. The playwright was condemned to two years hard labor. The ensuing anti-gay hysteria provided a serious setback for the nascent English gay movement.

1896

First gay periodical

Der Eigene is published in German

Two actresses on an American stage kiss one another. Immediately after, writes historian Kaier Curtin, ushers rushed down the aisles offering ice water to patrons on the verge of fainting. The play had nothing to do with lesbians, but the fanciful story of a young woman who magically changes into a young man. [see Virginia Woolf's, Orlando.]

1897

Scientific Institute opens

Wissenschaftlich-humanitre Komitee is formed in Berlin by Dr. Magnus Hirshfeld and others. The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee's purpose was decriminalization of homosexuality and removal of the infamous, Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code of 1871. The committee did not succeed at this effort, but was responsible for a great deal of important work until forced by the Nazis to disband in 1933.