What era was it when gays first came out of the closet?

[Daniela1982]

I had always thought that, while people knew they existed back to Biblical times, that gays didn't come out of the closet until more modern times. Today they live their lives and are no longer in hiding and getting their due rights like the rest of us have. These ads kind of show they were out and about and not residing behind closet doors.

1890 Cigar Box Label

1947 fabric ad

1970's doll ad

[Curmudgeon]

In the USA? I would say in the 1970's, a time of general cultural upheaval in general, even if not as pronounced or as turbulent as the 1960's. I was a kid then, and I saw it beginning, even if just through a child's eyes. As for the rest of the world, I cannot say.

An Anthropologist, Marvin Harris, wrote a book in 1980, titled "America Now: The Anthropology of a Changing Culture", in the final year of the Carter Administration and all the decade's previous woes.

In that book were the following chapters:
1. Introduction
2. Why Nothing Works
3. Why the Help Won't Help You
4. Why the Dollar Shrank
5. Why Women Left Home
6. Why the Gays Came Out of the Closet
7. Why There's Terror on the Streets
8. Why the Cults are Coming
9. Why America Changed

I didn't agree with his left-wing pablum on solutions to problems, which frankly would only compound them, but I will credit him for seeing the cultural trends and serious problems emerging in 1970's America. It was also funny to see him observe what was going wrong, without bringing himself to admit that he and his Leftist ilk had sometimes caused the above to happen in so many ways.

Anyway, to summarize Chapter 6: "Why the Gays came out of the closet", was that Professor Harris had a listing of various cultures and societies throughout the world, and he observed a phenomenon he called "natalism" that is, the belief that getting married and making babies is all that life is all about, for young men and young women, even if this meant their gender roles would diverge significantly. And throughout the world's cultures, the more "natalist" a society was or is, the more homosexuality would be frowned upon.

American society had turned away from the hypernatalist position after World War 2, when most (nearly all?) returning veterans of the "GI Generation" wanted to settle down and get on with their lives, and the younger "Silent Generation" followed suit because it was a very conformist time. In the 1960s and especially the 1970s, American society toward a position that was non-natalist or even anti-natalist. By this, he meant that people began to see sex as something a whole lot more than just baby making and propagating, and many even looked on at children as an impediment to self-discovery and their spiritual feelings, or even a potential overpopulation problem!

I was one of those "Generation X" babies, and I watched all too many older Silent Generation people have second thoughts about their early marriages and often divorce, and the "Baby Boomers" at the very least postpone making babies, and at the very worst denigrate it. (The notable exception to this might be people who accelerated parenthood in the middle 1960s and late 1960's so they would be less likely to be drafted for the Vietnam War). Since then and well into today, many young people clearly are in the mood to postpone marriage and baby making, either out of desires for self-exploration (and sexual self exploration is certainly a factor here), or fear of not being able to pull it off financially or otherwise.

[NamerOfStars]

There was a time when "gay" just meant "happy"; the Flintstones theme is not declaring "We'll have a homosexual old time". I would assume that stereotypically bubbly homosexual dudes were assuming to be particularly happy, and eventually the transition happened in the word's meaning.

But for most of history, homosexuality was seen as something you DID, rather than something you WERE. Different societies in different times and places treated it differently- it's important to remember that history is very, VERY far from a linear progression towards ever more tolerance and compassion- but it didn't start to be widely seen as a part of identity until Freud and Kinsey (obviously it did in bits and pieces before that, though).

In (relatively) modern American, and probably in most other times and places, the gay guys would often isolate themselves, forming social cliques if not outright communities consisting of people who it was safe to be "out" around. Like most things, it was a gradual process.

[Massageman]

- - - or "don we now our homosexual apparel - - - - -

[NamerOfStars]

@Massageman Or even "Let's listen to 'Sexual Healing' by Marvin Homosexuale".

[Daniela1982]

What's Going On?

[OlderAndWiser]

There was a great deal of homosexual activity done quite openly in ancient Rome and Greece, so at least 2,000 years ago.

[Daniela1982]

I mentioned the fact that it was well known from Biblical times as in Sodom and Gomorrah for instance.

[OlderAndWiser]

"while people knew they existed back to Biblical times, that gays didn't come out of the closet until more modern times." I'm saying they were out of the closet way back when.

[Daniela1982]

But, but they didn't have closets back then.

[OlderAndWiser]

:) :) :) Some people DO appreciate your humor!

[Soteris]

The whole Anti-Gay trend was pretty much started and ended with Christianity. Before then homosexuality was pretty common around the ancient world such as in Rome and Greece. As for when Gay culture became more openly accepted? In USA that would probably be around the time the Pride Parade started so around 1970? That said, they face massive discrimination in USA to this very day although its usually limited to smaller pockets of the country.

[madgoat]

Historians would have a better answer but in modern society, I'd say people became more aware of them in the '80s.
You understand that the word 'gay' just meant 'happy' until then. So your images probably were not related to the homosexual community.

[RolandCuthbert]

What in the world? Homosexuality goes back to ancient times. Caligula. . . an Emperor of Rome, was fabulously gay.

https://historycollection.com/scandalous-love-lives-early-roman-emperors/4/

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fmum3glL1DA

[Daniela1982]

I said it has been around since ancient times but I was talking more recently in history.

[RolandCuthbert]

The entire post is simply not clear. You said people knew about it in Biblical times. .. but didn't come out of the closet.

Homosexual lifestyles were showcased in Rome, Greece and Egypt. In fact, in Rome it was common for males who were head of households to have male concubines along with their wives.

www.heritagedaily.com/.../97996

[Daniela1982]

Well you learn something new on GaG every day. But wait, I thought Caligula fucked his sister?

[Dayman343]

Here in the UK up until 1967 a gay man could be prosecuted for the crime of 'gross indecency' and could serve 2 years in prison. I would imagine many gay men around these times married women to hide the fact. Homosexuality is still illegal in many parts of the world and sometimes it carries capital punishment.

[Daniela1982]

Like in Afghanistan for one.

[Surely]

I believe that sodomy is still illegal in a lot of states. Just not prosecuted!
If I remember. Sometime in the nineties people started to be open but still frowned upon.

[exitseven]

I have heard that soldiers in the time of Alexander the great (circa 500 BC) were openly homosexual. And nobody wanted to mess with those guys.

[Daniela1982]

I could imagine why, especially if you were a captive.

[nawtee_me]

I am sorry but the term Gay in 1890 and 1947 had a different meaning than in the 1970. Back then Gay meant happy and now it means something totally different.

[Daniela1982]

You think? The 1947 one seems more up to date with the rainbow so I'm not all too sure it means gaiety though I could be wrong.

[Likes2drive]

The first advertisements were probably about being happy not homosexual, the last one might be about it

[888theGreat]

After 1990's , and the country has gone downhill ever since

[karaspara]

I'm guessing the swinging 60's

[Anonymous]

I think the 80s