1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Henry Gerber was born on June twenty ninth, 2 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety two, or one hundred thirty two years ago 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: today if you're listening on the day this episode publishes. 4 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: Gerber established Chicago Society for Human Rights one hundred years 5 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: ago in nineteen twenty four, and it was the first 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 1: known organization for gay rights in the United States. 7 00:00:24,079 --> 00:00:27,479 Speaker 2: We mentioned in this episode that it followed one on 8 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 2: Compton's Cafeteria riot. That riot happened a little less than 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 2: three years before the more well known Stonewall Riot. There 10 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:38,600 Speaker 2: are also a couple of mentions in this episode of 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 2: Magnus Hirschfeld in his Institute for Sexual Science. When we 12 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 2: recorded this episode, we did not have an episode on 13 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 2: him that came out afterward on September nineteenth, twenty eighteen, 14 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 2: and us a little bit of an. 15 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: Update to the very end of this episode. In June 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:58,080 Speaker 1: of twenty fifteen, Henry Gerber's house was indeed designated a 17 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: National Historic Landmark. Of this episode on Henry Gerber and 18 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: Chicago Society where Human Rights came out on June twenty second, 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 20 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:20,880 Speaker 1: A production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 21 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 2: I'm Holly Frye and I'm Tracy V. 22 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:29,120 Speaker 1: Wilson. And we recently talked about the Compton's Cafeteria riots, 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 1: and this is kind of a little bit of a 24 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:36,400 Speaker 1: dovetail on that, but we're time traveling backwards. We talked 25 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: about in that episode, how you know a lot of 26 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: people point to the Stonewall Riots as the beginning of 27 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: the LGBT rights movement in the US, but of course 28 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: there were things going on before that, as that episode 29 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: on the Cafeteria Riot pointed out, and even before that, 30 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: and there were certainly gay people here long before that, 31 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: and there were, in fact LGBT rights organizations trying to 32 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,000 Speaker 1: pop up, probably my earlier than you, suspect. And today 33 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the man who started, ever 34 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: so briefly, the first such organization in the US, at 35 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: least the first that we know of, and that took 36 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: place more than four decades before Stonewall. So just a 37 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 1: heads up on this one, particularly if you're listening with 38 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,560 Speaker 1: younger listeners. We are going to talk a little bit 39 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: about some legal issues that came up involving specific sex acts, 40 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: So just keep that in mind as you listen to 41 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: this one, maybe preview it if you think your younger 42 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,320 Speaker 1: listeners might not be ready for that. But right out 43 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 1: of the gate, I feel like we have to mention 44 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: that today's subject, who is Henry Gerber, can be a 45 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: little bit of a difficult character in LGBT history. While 46 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: he definitely wanted to push back against anti gay legislation, 47 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: he was not so open to bisexuals. He was not 48 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: particularly accepting of lesbians or basically any of the people 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,679 Speaker 1: we would put under the LGBT umbrella today that we're 50 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: not gay men. He was an introvert, He was very 51 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: serious man. Some people describe him as curmudgeonly or cantankerous, 52 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: not really a charmer, and he would often look down 53 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: his nose even at other gay men, saying that they 54 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,520 Speaker 1: were too frivolous and that they were not forward thinking 55 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: enough about the place of the gay man in society. 56 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: But at the same time, he really spearheaded this important, 57 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 1: though often overlooked effort to improve the rights of gay 58 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 1: citizens and secure some sort of safety for them. So 59 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: we're talking about Henry Gerbert today, keep in mind he's 60 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: a little bit tricky in some ways. He was born 61 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: as of Henry Ditmar. On June twenty ninth of eighteen 62 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: ninety two, he and his family left their home in 63 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 1: Bavaria to set out for the United States, and they 64 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: arrived at Ellis Island in nineteen thirteen. At that point, 65 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: Henry was twenty one, and once they had been processed 66 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: by immigration officials, the family moved to Chicago, where they 67 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: were hoping to join the significant German population there. Henry 68 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: got a job pretty quickly working at Montgomery Ward in 69 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: the mail order department. 70 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:10,800 Speaker 2: As is probably obvious at this point, Gerber was gay, 71 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 2: and a lot of the articles about him indicate that 72 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 2: being homosexual got him institutionalized briefly, although the accounts aren't 73 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 2: entirely clear about exactly when this happened. 74 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: Yeah, he's one that we mentioned this a lot in 75 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: in some of our episodes, that there are some portions 76 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: of history and usually it's the further back you go 77 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,560 Speaker 1: that it becomes the harder to actually find substantiated information. 78 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: And he's very tricky in this regard. Outside of military records, 79 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: a lot of what we have is kind of word 80 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: of mouth and his retelling and some other retellings that 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: have happened along the way, so some of the details 82 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:55,200 Speaker 1: get a little mushy meshy. But what we do know 83 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: is that Henry enlisted in the US Army on January 84 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: twenty sixth of nineteen fourteen, and it's believed that just 85 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 1: after this is when he changed his name from Joseph 86 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: Henry Ditmar to Henry Gerber, although this is another part 87 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: where there's some haziness around the historical record and when 88 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 1: he stopped using his birth name and switched to Gerber. 89 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: Ditmar actually still appears on a nineteen seventeen draft card, 90 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: although at that point Henry claimed exemption on that card 91 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: as a conscientious objector, and it's possible that he purposely 92 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: shifted the name back to his original Bavarian name in 93 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: an effort to create some paperwork confusion over his status. 94 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: That's purely speculation. I don't know based on what I've seen, 95 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: and I haven't seen the actual card, if that was 96 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: a pre printed card or if it's something he wrote in. 97 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: But eventually, we do know that his military records cross 98 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: referenced both names, both Dittmar and Gerber. During the early 99 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: part of World War One, he was labeled as an 100 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: enemy alien, and he was taken to an internment camp. 101 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: Really sensationalist stories in the press, gossip circles about German 102 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: spies in the United States caused a lot of German 103 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: immigrants to be looked upon with suspicion, and he was 104 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: no exception. After the war was over, Gerber re enlisted 105 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: at the end of nineteen nineteen and he worked for 106 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,359 Speaker 1: the military as a printer and a proofreader, and he 107 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: was shipped to Coblin's Germany as part of the US 108 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: Army of Occupation in nineteen twenty and there he worked 109 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: on the Amarok News, which is a daily paper that 110 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: was published to keep American soldiers that were stationed abroad, 111 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,679 Speaker 1: particularly in Germany, informed and entertained, and it published everything 112 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: from poems and short stories to the latest sports scores. 113 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:39,560 Speaker 1: While he was in Germany serving as a United States soldier, 114 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:44,280 Speaker 1: Gerber was exposed to that country's homosexual emancipation movement and 115 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: as also to the Scientific Humanitarian Committee that was a 116 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: critical part of that movement. And I'll give a little 117 00:06:52,279 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: background on the German homosexual emancipation movements, and we're also 118 00:06:56,839 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit about Magnus Hirschfield who 119 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: was also mentioned and in the Compton's Cafeteria episode. So 120 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: the criminal code in Germany was amended in eighteen seventy 121 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: one with the inclusion of what is called paragraph one 122 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: seventy five, and that piece of legislation made it illegal 123 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: for men to engage in sexual acts with one another. 124 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: Twenty six years after paragraph one seventy five was adopted 125 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 1: into law, the Scientific Humanitarian Community was founded in Berlin 126 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: by Magnus Hirschfeld. One of the huge achievements of Hirschfield's 127 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 1: life was the deconstruction of homosexuality from a biological perspective, 128 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: sort of moving it away from being defined as a 129 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: pathology and with a scientific approach to the issue of homosexuality, 130 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,880 Speaker 1: the Scientific Humanitarian Committee was making some progress towards LGBT rights, 131 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: and they were making that progress right up until Hitler's 132 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: rise and the Nazi Party's persecution of any perceived sexual devians. 133 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 2: Yeah, the Nazi Party actually burned down Magnus Hirschfeld's in 134 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 2: Institute for Research into Sexuality. That's sort of been alluded 135 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 2: to in a couple of episodes that we have talked 136 00:08:07,640 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 2: about that have been on this subject, and we've never 137 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 2: gone into a lot of detail, but yeah, the Nazi 138 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 2: Party destroyed his facility and all the research that was 139 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 2: in it. And we're just giving you kind of the 140 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,360 Speaker 2: brief and quick on that to kind of contextualize what 141 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 2: happens next when Gerber returned to the US. We're going 142 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 2: to talk about that influence after his time in Germany 143 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,040 Speaker 2: and his exposure to the homosexual emancipation movement, But first 144 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: we are going to have a quick word from a sponsor. 145 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 2: By the time Gerber returned to the US, he was 146 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 2: well acquainted with the homosexual emancipation movement. He had spent 147 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 2: his time in Germany reading magazines and other literature about 148 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 2: the movement and also getting to know its leaders. He 149 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,559 Speaker 2: would kind of travel around Germany and go to lectures 150 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 2: and really immerge himself in this whole ideology to learn 151 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 2: about it. And he thought, if Germany could have this 152 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 2: growing and thriving for the time homosexual culture that was 153 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,280 Speaker 2: willing to speak out for rights, why couldn't we have 154 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 2: that in the US. So one of the things about 155 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 2: the United States was that there was just a lack 156 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 2: of uniformity in legislation across the country regarding sex. It 157 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 2: had created a really tangled mess, and that was facing 158 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 2: anyone who wanted to work toward the cause of rights. 159 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,920 Speaker 2: Being labeled as immoral in his home country for being 160 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 2: homosexual just really seemed to be an incredible injustice to 161 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,360 Speaker 2: gerber Yeah, and I have to wonder about sort of 162 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 2: the duality of it in terms of his home country. 163 00:09:42,760 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 2: I put that word in the notes, and he considered 164 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 2: the US his home country, even though he had come 165 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 2: from Bavaria. And so it's kind of interesting that he 166 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,240 Speaker 2: then went back to Germany and saw them kind of 167 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 2: working towards this progressive idea of rights, and then he 168 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 2: went to his chosen home where he just did not 169 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 2: have of that same kind of social movement going on. 170 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,679 Speaker 2: So it's kind of fascinating from that perspective. And when 171 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:10,040 Speaker 2: he returned to Chicago in nineteen twenty three after his 172 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 2: three years in Germany, he started working as an employee 173 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 2: at the US Postal Service, and he saw that Chicago 174 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:19,720 Speaker 2: had this growing gay subculture, which was secret in most 175 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 2: areas of the city but fairly open in the bohemian 176 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 2: neighborhood of Tower Town, which is in the near North 177 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:27,959 Speaker 2: Side area. And as he saw the gay and lesbian 178 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 2: community growing, he wanted to create a way to protect 179 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 2: these people's rights. Inspired by what he had seen in Germany, 180 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 2: he launched his own plan to create an organization that 181 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 2: would mimic the ones that were involved in Germany's emancipation movement. 182 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 2: He knew that he could not do it alone, but 183 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:49,079 Speaker 2: it was really difficult to find other people who were 184 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 2: willing to take the risks that were inherent in participating 185 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 2: in this kind of mission. He tried to network with 186 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:58,800 Speaker 2: other activists, including birth control advocate Margaret Sanger, but he 187 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 2: never managed to George and the alliances. His efforts to 188 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 2: reach out to the gay men he knew of and 189 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:10,160 Speaker 2: business in Chicago were met pretty coldly at best. Prominent 190 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 2: business people were just not willing to risk their jobs 191 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 2: and families to fight for what they thought was definitely 192 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 2: a losing cause. 193 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: Yees, if it's not completely clear. At this point, pretty 194 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 1: much all these people were closeted outside of Tower Town 195 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: like nobody knew that any of these people were gay, 196 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: and after a year of searching for allies, Gerber and 197 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: six other men that he had managed to round up 198 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: founded Chicago's Society for Human Rights in nineteen twenty four, 199 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: applying for a charter to incorporate the group on December 200 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: tenth of that year, and it was the first gay 201 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: rights organization in the United States. 202 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 2: The Society of Human Rights published a newsletter called Friendship 203 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,280 Speaker 2: and Freedom, which circulated to all of its members. Was 204 00:11:55,320 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 2: a pretty small group, and not many people wanted literature 205 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:02,479 Speaker 2: that my out them to show up in their mailboxes. 206 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 2: Postal inspectors cooperated with law enforcement and would report suspicious materials. 207 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 2: At this point, pretty much all of this would have 208 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 2: been considered obscene. 209 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: Yes, all pretty much illegal. Nonetheless, Gerbert continued his work, 210 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: and the mission of the Society was to educate the 211 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 1: heterosexual community about homosexuality and to reform the laws that 212 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:28,959 Speaker 1: made homosexuality criminal. But they had to be very very 213 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: careful about this. 214 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,960 Speaker 2: The charter for the group relayed this purpose this way 215 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 2: quote to promote and protect the interests of people who, 216 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 2: by reasons of mental and physical abnormalities, are abused and 217 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 2: hindered in a legal pursuit of happiness, which is guaranteed 218 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 2: them by the Declaration of Independence, and to combat the 219 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 2: public prejudices against them by dissemination of factors according to 220 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:54,280 Speaker 2: modern science. Among intellectuals of mature age. The society stands 221 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,440 Speaker 2: only for law and order. It is in harmony with 222 00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,599 Speaker 2: any and all general laws insofar as they protect the 223 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 2: rights of others, and does in no manner recommend any 224 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:07,480 Speaker 2: acts and violation of present laws, nor advocate in any 225 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:13,800 Speaker 2: manner inimical to public welfare. You probably noticed that there 226 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 2: is no mention there of homosexuality or gay rights. Remember, 227 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 2: this was still a time when it was absolutely illegal 228 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 2: to be gay, thanks to sodomy laws in Illinois. There 229 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,719 Speaker 2: were precedent cases that established oral sex as sodomy under 230 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 2: the letter of the law, including one which judicially categorized 231 00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 2: fallatio as a crime against nature. This was not a 232 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 2: time that it would have been safe for an organization 233 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 2: intended to decriminalize homosexuality to be out and proud about it. 234 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 2: They had to be very, very careful and kind of 235 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 2: work in incremental, very slow steps. Unfortunately, their work did 236 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,480 Speaker 2: not last very long at all. Just eight months after 237 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,400 Speaker 2: it was founded, and with only two issues of Friendship 238 00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 2: and Freedom having been published, everything came to a crashing halt. 239 00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 2: In July nineteen twenty five, the wife of one of 240 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 2: the co founders reported her husband to a social worker. 241 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 2: After the couple's daughter said she had seen her father 242 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 2: and other men performing seances and other strange behavior. The 243 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 2: social worker she spoke with contacted police, and soon thereafter 244 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 2: the Society for Human Rights, which was headquartered in Gerber's home, 245 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 2: was rated. Gerber was arrested for deviant behavior. His typewriter, 246 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 2: his diaries, and other papers were seized, and at this 247 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 2: point in time, Illinois sodomy law stipulated a minimum one 248 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 2: year prison term for anyone found guilty, with the maximum 249 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 2: sentence of ten years, so this was quite a serious situation. 250 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,400 Speaker 2: Gerber always insisted that the story of his colleagues's behavior, 251 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 2: as reported by his wife and related in the papers, 252 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:48,880 Speaker 2: was fabricated, but because the accused husband, al Menager, was 253 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 2: confessed to being bisexual during police screening, no one cared 254 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,760 Speaker 2: that the facts of the news weren't entirely accurate. Yeah, 255 00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 2: and this also came as a surprise to Gerber. He 256 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 2: he had not even known, according to what I read 257 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,440 Speaker 2: that the members of his group, that any of them 258 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,520 Speaker 2: were married. So when this turned up and there was 259 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 2: a wife that had reported one of them, remember, he 260 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 2: wasn't really that keen on bisexuals, so This was a 261 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 2: really kind of weird and awkward situation in addition to 262 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 2: being dangerous and kind of a powder keg. Gerber was 263 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 2: held by the police for several days. He was allowed 264 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:26,840 Speaker 2: a phone call the morning after his arrest, which he 265 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 2: used to call work and explain his absence, and his 266 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:31,880 Speaker 2: supervisor kind of tried to help him out. He wrote 267 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,760 Speaker 2: up the situation as absent on leave in an effort 268 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 2: to cover for Gerber. Henry endured three trials with his colleagues. 269 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 2: The only evidence against him that was supposed to prove 270 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 2: that he was homosexual was a powder puff that was 271 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 2: allegedly found in his room. 272 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 1: Ee. Yeah, that's widely believed to have been planted. Remember, 273 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: he was not, by any accounts I have read, a 274 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 1: cross dresser. He wasn't. He didn't dabble in any sort 275 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: of alternate gender expression. So this powder puffs, it's very jarring. 276 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: In the record, it seems very weird and out of place. However, 277 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: the charges against him were eventually dropped, and that happened 278 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: when a judge realized this was during the third trial 279 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: that Gerber had been arrested without a warrant, but unfortunately, 280 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: he had spent his entire savings up to this point, 281 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: particularly on this third trial, hiring an attorney so that 282 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 1: he could try to sort of save himself from this mess. 283 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 2: The raid and the trials had been reported by the news, 284 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 2: with the Chicago Examiner running a story about it under 285 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:42,520 Speaker 2: the headline strange sex cult exposed, So even though he 286 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 2: had been released and the charges were dropped, he was 287 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 2: still fired from his postal job in the wake of 288 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:54,040 Speaker 2: the incident for a quote conduct unbecoming a postal worker. Additionally, 289 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 2: all records of the Society for Human Rights and their 290 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 2: Friendship and Freedom Newsletter that had been seized in the 291 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 2: red were destroyed, and for decades this important aspect of 292 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 2: LGBT history was basically erased. There are no surviving copies 293 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 2: of the Friendship and Freedom newsletter. A review of it 294 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:14,440 Speaker 2: was reprinted in the book Paris Gay nineteen twenty five, 295 00:17:14,480 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 2: which came out in nineteen eighty one. The review describes 296 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 2: the newsletter as moral and says that it included a 297 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 2: poem by Walt Whitman and an essay about Oscar Wilde's 298 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 2: practice of wearing a green carnation in his lapel. It's 299 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,919 Speaker 2: long been rumored, but not ever confirmed that Wild in 300 00:17:31,960 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 2: his social circle would wear green carnations as a secret 301 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:40,120 Speaker 2: symbol of homosexuality. Yeah, so that's how that essay would 302 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 2: have appeared in the newsletter. And in just a moment, 303 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,400 Speaker 2: we're going to talk about Henry's life after the raid 304 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,000 Speaker 2: and subsequent trials and how that put an end to 305 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:51,640 Speaker 2: the Society for Human Rights. But first we're gonna take 306 00:17:51,640 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 2: a brief word from a sponsor. After all of these 307 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:05,640 Speaker 2: things that we've talked about, Henry Gerber was in need 308 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,959 Speaker 2: of a fresh start, and he chose to move to 309 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 2: New York City. In nineteen twenty seven, he re enlisted 310 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 2: with the US Army and then he would serve for 311 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 2: seventeen years. He's also said to have been frustrated at 312 00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 2: this point with the lack of activism within what he 313 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 2: called the Dorian crowd. He was also really exasperated at 314 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,239 Speaker 2: his perception that other gay men were too willing to 315 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 2: accept the commonly held belief that homosexuality was a mental illness, 316 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 2: and people were seemingly willing to accept a life of 317 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,679 Speaker 2: clandestine meetings in a state of fearfulness. Yeah, so he 318 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 2: basically kind of kept on the downlow after this, but 319 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,959 Speaker 2: he did continue to write, so throughout the thirties, Gerber 320 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 2: wrote articles for gay magazines. He used a pen name, 321 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 2: and he also managed a correspondence club which was called Contacts, 322 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 2: which would eventually become a communications network for gay men 323 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 2: in the US. And he also wrote an essay called 324 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 2: in Defense of Homosexuals which was published in The Modern Thinker, 325 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 2: and he wrote that under the pseudonym Parasex. In nineteen 326 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 2: thirty four, he even wrote an anti Hitler paper openly 327 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 2: criticizing Hitler's treatment of homosexuals. 328 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, which was kind of bold and a little bit dangerous, 329 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: even written under a pen name. Then a few years 330 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,879 Speaker 1: down the road, there was a man named Manuel Boyfrank 331 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: and he was a gay activist in California, and he 332 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:30,159 Speaker 1: reached out to Henry Gerber in the nineteen forties. He 333 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,160 Speaker 1: was hoping to get some assistance in creating a new 334 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 1: movement to fight the oppression of homosexuals. And while Gerber 335 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: was glad to help out through his writing, he did 336 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: not want to attach his real name to the effort 337 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,080 Speaker 1: and take a real pivotal role. He just did not 338 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: want to risk losing everything again. Throughout his military career, 339 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: he dealt with harassment. He was blackmailed and beaten. His 340 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,639 Speaker 1: quarters at Governor's Island were searched by Army investigators in 341 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: February nineteen forty two. They found no illegal materials or 342 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: evidence of illegal behavior, but just the same he was 343 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,359 Speaker 1: held in the guard house for several weeks after the search. 344 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: He was honorably discharged in nineteen forty five. In nineteen 345 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: fifty a new gay rights organization formed called the Mattachine Society. 346 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 1: We referenced that in the earlier episode about the Compton's 347 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: Cafeteria riot. And in nineteen fifty two this group began 348 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: publishing the first gay and lesbian national newsletter, which was 349 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: called One. And when Gerber found out about One, he 350 00:20:33,680 --> 00:20:36,159 Speaker 1: actually wrote to the magazine with an account of his 351 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: efforts to start the Society for Human Rights and his 352 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,040 Speaker 1: attempts to get a previous newsletter out called Friendship and Freedom. 353 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: In nineteen fifty eight, One was part of a First 354 00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 1: Amendment case heard by the US Supreme Court. This case 355 00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,479 Speaker 1: was incredibly important because it eventually led to the ruling 356 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: that publishing homosexual content did not mean a publication was 357 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:02,880 Speaker 1: inherently obscene. Yeah, prior to that, if you even said, 358 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: or you know, suggested that two men might care for 359 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: one another romantically. It was pretty much obscenity, whereas this 360 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,880 Speaker 1: drew that boundary of like, no, that's not automatically obscene, 361 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 1: you guys. Years later, in nineteen sixty three one the 362 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,639 Speaker 1: magazine actually ran a full story about Gerber's efforts and 363 00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: the work that he was doing in the nineteen twenties, 364 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: and it kind of reintroduced his part in the LGBT 365 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: rights movement to inter Record. 366 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 2: In his retirement years, Henry Gerber moved to the US 367 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 2: Soldiers and Airman's Home in Washington, d C. He died 368 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 2: there on December thirty first, nineteen seventy two, from pneumonia. 369 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 2: He was eighty years old. In nineteen ninety two, posthumously, 370 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 2: of course, Henry was inducted into the Chicago Gay and 371 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:53,000 Speaker 2: Lesbian Hall of Fame, and in February of twenty fifteen, 372 00:21:53,040 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 2: the house at seventeen ten North Carearley Court in Chicago, 373 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 2: which is where Gerber lived when he founded the Society 374 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 2: for Human Rights, was nominated as a National Historic Landmark. 375 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 2: The National Historic Landmarks Committee unanimously approved the nomination. The 376 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,719 Speaker 2: next step in the process was for it to go 377 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 2: to the National Park Service Advisory Board in May twenty fifteen. 378 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 2: We have not yet been able to find any information 379 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,439 Speaker 2: about how that went since that we are recording this 380 00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 2: literally immediately after the conclusion of May twenty fifteen, that 381 00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 2: they have not published their notes yet. Today it's June second, 382 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 2: I think that we're recording. So if it's approved by 383 00:22:30,359 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 2: the Advisory Board, the nomination would then move to the 384 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 2: Secretary of the Interior for final approval. 385 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,400 Speaker 1: So yeah, his home may become a National Historic Landmark. 386 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: It looks like it's on track for that to happen, 387 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:45,760 Speaker 1: but you never know what will happen in the process, 388 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: so that's something to look forward to. We may have 389 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: an update soon, which would be exciting. So yeah, that's 390 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: the story of Henry Gerber. He is a tricky He's 391 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 1: one of those people that he comes up for a 392 00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: long time. He was written about in sort of like 393 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: here's the the LGBT rights activists you have never heard of. 394 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 1: But even so, as we mentioned in the episode, there 395 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: are some blank spots in there that are not always 396 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: entirely clear. And because he's maybe not the most sort 397 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,400 Speaker 1: of charming character, I think he gets overlooked anyway. 398 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and. 399 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: Some of his. 400 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 2: Prejudices like continue to exist today, Like there is still 401 00:23:27,800 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 2: a lot of anti bisexual sentiment and like a yes, 402 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 2: a general trend of kind of assuming anyone who has 403 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 2: a relationship with a person of the same sex is 404 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 2: gay or lesbian and that bisexuality is not a thing. 405 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:45,120 Speaker 2: Like there's a lot of those ideas continue to crop 406 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,000 Speaker 2: up today, years and years later after his death. So 407 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 2: it's that's not a I didn't go away, right, Yeah. 408 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,840 Speaker 2: I mean, you know, within any community, there is always fracturing, 409 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:58,800 Speaker 2: and he was, you know, kind of one of the 410 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 2: first people that that exemplifies some of that going on, 411 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 2: and it's easy to go, oh, well, that's how it 412 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 2: was in the twenties, which again I always just feel 413 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:09,119 Speaker 2: like we have to pause and go this was something 414 00:24:09,200 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 2: he was working on in the nineteen twenties, so much 415 00:24:11,960 --> 00:24:16,480 Speaker 2: earlier than we really think about this movement. But a 416 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 2: lot of those issues still echo today. So it's kind 417 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 2: of an interesting touchstone and we can kind of see 418 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 2: the mirror of that continuing. Thanks so much for joining 419 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 2: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 420 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 2: the archive, if you heard an email address or a 421 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 2: Facebook RL or something similar over the course of the 422 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 2: show that could be obsolete now. 423 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: Our current email address. 424 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 2: Is History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 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