June 1, 1932

Gay rights organizer Henry Gerber published an article in Modern Thinker magazine attacking the view that homosexuality is a neurosis.

In 1924, Henry Gerber, a postal worker in Chicago, started the Society for Human Rights, America's first known gay rights organization.

"The Society for Human Rights is formed to promote and protect the interests of people who are abused and hindered in the legal pursuit of happiness which is guaranteed them by the Declaration of Independence, and to combat the public prejudices against them."

After having created and distributed a newsletter called “Friendship and Freedom,” Gerber was arrested and held for 3 days without a warrant or being charged with any infractions. Upon release he lost his job for "conduct unbecoming a postal worker.”

Following the last of his three trials, in which the charges were ultimately dismissed, Gerber moved to new York City and re-enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving another 17 years. He lived until 1972, passing away at the the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home in Washington, D.C., living long enough to see the Stonewall Rebellion, the beginning of the modern gay rights movement.

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100 years ago, a #Chicagoan made #history by founding the first #gayrights #organization in the #US.

In 1924, #HenryGerber established the #SocietyForHumanRights, the nation’s first #gay #rights group, paving the way for #LGBTQ+ #activism in the #LandofLincoln

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https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/12/09/100-years-lgbtq-rights-henry-gerber-chicago-history

November 10, 1924 - The Society for Human Rights, the first gay rights organization in the U.S., was founded in Chicago by Henry Gerber, a German immigrant. He had been inspired by Germany’s Scientific Humanitarian Committee, formed to oppose the oppression of men and women considered "sexual intermediates."

#HenryGerber #TheSocietyForHumanRights

#OTD 10 December 1924: the first gay rights organisation in the US, the Society for Human Rights, was founded in Chicago by postalworker and army veteran, Henry Gerber, inspired by the work of Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany. It lasted a few months, until police arrested Gerber and several others.

via Working Class History (from elsewhere)

#HenryGerber #SocietyForHumanRights #LGBTQIHistory #History #OnThisDay #IHRD #InternationalHumanRightsDay