Henry Gerber
Encyclopedia
Henry Gerber was an early homosexual rights activist in the United States. Inspired by the work of Germany's Magnus Hirschfeld
and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
, Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights (SHR) in 1924, the nation's first known homosexual organization, and Friendship and Freedom, the first known American homosexual publication. SHR was short-lived, as police arrested several of its members shortly after it incorporated. Although embittered by his experiences, Gerber maintained contacts within the fledgling homophile
movement of the 1950s and continued to agitate for the rights of homosexuals. Gerber has been repeatedly recognized for his contributions to the LGBT
movement.
. He changed his name to "Henry Gerber" upon emigrating to the United States in 1913. He and others in his family settled in Chicago
because of its large German immigrant population. In 1917, Gerber was briefly committed to a mental institution because of his homosexuality. When the United States declared war on Germany
, Gerber was given a choice: be interned as an enemy alien
or enlist in the Army
. Gerber chose the Army and he was assigned to work as a printer and proofreader with the Allied Army of Occupation in Coblenz
. He served for around three years.
During his time in Germany, Gerber learned about Magnus Hirschfeld
and the work he and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
were doing to reform anti-homosexual German law, especially Paragraph 175
, which criminalized sex between men. Gerber traveled to Berlin, which supported a thriving gay subculture, on several occasions and subscribed to at least one homophile magazine. He absorbed Hirschfeld's ideas, including the notion that homosexual men were naturally effeminate.Despite being naturally masculine and disliking the company of women and effeminate men, (Bullough, p. 32), Gerber continued to espouse the idea of gay men's effeminacy, writing in 1932, "The homosexual man does not shun women because he wants to flee from the reality of normal sex life, but because he himself is a woman and his normal sex life is directed to the other sex, another man." (collected in Blasius and Phane, p. 220) Following his military service, Gerber returned to the United States and went to work for the post office
in Chicago.
with the state of Illinois
. The application outlined the goals and purposes of the (SHR):
An African American
clergyman named John T. Graves signed on as president of the new organization and Gerber, Graves and five others were listed as directors. The state granted the charter on December 10, 1924, maing SHR the oldest documented homosexual organization in the nation.
Gerber created the first known American gay-interest publication, called Friendship and Freedom, as the SHR newsletter. However, few SHR members were willing to receive mailings of the newsletter, fearing that postal inspectors would deem the publication obscene under the Comstock Act. Indeed, all gay-interest publications were deemed obscene until 1958. Friendship and Freedom lasted two issues.
Gerber and Graves decided to limit SHR membership to gay men and exclude bisexuals. Unknown to them, SHR vice-president Al Weininger was married with two children. Weninger's wife reported SHR to a social worker in the summer of 1925, calling them "degenerates". The police interrogated Gerber and arrested him, Graves, Weininger and another man; the Chicago Examiner
reported the story under the headline "Strange Sex Cult Exposed". Gerber was tried three times. Charges against Gerber were eventually dismissed but his defense cost him his life savings, some or all of which may have been in the form of bribes paid through his lawyer. Gerber lost his post office job for "conduct unbecoming a postal worker" and Weninger paid a $10 fine for "disorderly conduct". SHR was destroyed and Gerber was left embittered that none of the wealthy gays of Chicago came to his aid for a cause designed to advance the common good.
, where a friend from his Army days introduced him to a colonel. The officer encouraged Gerber to re-enlist and he did. Gerber served until 1945, when he received an honorable discharge. During his second enlistment, Gerber ran a pen pal
service called "Connections" beginning in 1930. The service typically had between 150 and 200 members, the majority of whom were heterosexual. He continued writing articles for a variety of magazines, including one called Chanticleer, in which he sometimes made the case for homosexual rights. It was the norm for gay writers to use pseudonym
s when writing on gay matters; Gerber sometimes wrote under his own name but sometimes used the name "Parisex". Gerber continued to write for the next 30 years.
In the 1950s, Gerber began exploring the New York gay scene more extensively and maintained a voluminous correspondence with other gay men, discussing gay organizing and strategies for answering societal prejudice. Gerber lived in New York until near the end of his life, when he moved into the Soldiers' and Airmens' home in Washington, D. C.. There he worked on his memoirs (the manuscripts are thought to be lost) and translations of German novels. Gerber died in the home on December 31, 1972, aged 80.
in 1992. The Henry Gerber House
, located at 1710 N. Crilly Court, Chicago, contains the apartment in which Gerber lived when he founded SHR. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 1, 2001. The Gerber/Hart Library
at 1127 West Granville Avenue is named in honor of Gerber and early civil rights defender Pearl M. Hart
.
Gerber serves as a direct link between the LGBT-related activism of the Weimar Republic
and the American homophile movement of the 1950s. In 1929, a young man named Harry Hay
was living in Los Angeles
. He soon discovered the cruising
scene in Pershing Square
, where he met a man who had been a lover of one of Gerber's SHR compatriots. This man told Hay about the Society's brief history. Although Hay would later deny that he had any knowledge of previous LGBT activism, he was inspired by this knowledge to conceive in 1948 a proposal for gay men's political and social group. In 1950 Hay's idea reached fruition when he and several other men founded the Mattachine Society
, the first enduring LGBT rights organization in the United States.
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which Dustin Goltz called "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights."-Early life:Hirschfeld was born in Kolberg in a...
and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15 May, 1897, to campaign for social recognition of homosexual, bisexual and transgender men and women, and against their legal persecution...
, Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights (SHR) in 1924, the nation's first known homosexual organization, and Friendship and Freedom, the first known American homosexual publication. SHR was short-lived, as police arrested several of its members shortly after it incorporated. Although embittered by his experiences, Gerber maintained contacts within the fledgling homophile
Homophile
The word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s....
movement of the 1950s and continued to agitate for the rights of homosexuals. Gerber has been repeatedly recognized for his contributions to the LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
movement.
Early life
Gerber was born Henry Joseph Dittmar (some sources say "Josef") on June 29, 1892 in BavariaBavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. He changed his name to "Henry Gerber" upon emigrating to the United States in 1913. He and others in his family settled in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
because of its large German immigrant population. In 1917, Gerber was briefly committed to a mental institution because of his homosexuality. When the United States declared war on Germany
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Gerber was given a choice: be interned as an enemy alien
Enemy alien
In law, an enemy alien is a citizen of a country which is in a state of conflict with the land in which he or she is located. Usually, but not always, the countries are in a state of declared war.-United Kingdom:...
or enlist in the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. Gerber chose the Army and he was assigned to work as a printer and proofreader with the Allied Army of Occupation in Coblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
. He served for around three years.
During his time in Germany, Gerber learned about Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld was a German physician and sexologist. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which Dustin Goltz called "the first advocacy for homosexual and transgender rights."-Early life:Hirschfeld was born in Kolberg in a...
and the work he and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
Scientific-Humanitarian Committee
The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee was founded in Berlin on the 14th or 15 May, 1897, to campaign for social recognition of homosexual, bisexual and transgender men and women, and against their legal persecution...
were doing to reform anti-homosexual German law, especially Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law.The statute was amended several...
, which criminalized sex between men. Gerber traveled to Berlin, which supported a thriving gay subculture, on several occasions and subscribed to at least one homophile magazine. He absorbed Hirschfeld's ideas, including the notion that homosexual men were naturally effeminate.Despite being naturally masculine and disliking the company of women and effeminate men, (Bullough, p. 32), Gerber continued to espouse the idea of gay men's effeminacy, writing in 1932, "The homosexual man does not shun women because he wants to flee from the reality of normal sex life, but because he himself is a woman and his normal sex life is directed to the other sex, another man." (collected in Blasius and Phane, p. 220) Following his military service, Gerber returned to the United States and went to work for the post office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
in Chicago.
Society for Human Rights
Inspired by Hirschfeld's work with the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, Gerber resolved to found a similar organization in the United States. He called his group the Society for Human Rights (SHR) and took on the role of secretary. Gerber filed an application for a charter as a non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
with the state of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The application outlined the goals and purposes of the (SHR):
[T]o promote and protect the interests of people who by reasons of mental and physical abnormalities 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 by dissemination of factors according to modern science among intellectuals of mature age. The Society stands only for law and order; it is in harmony with any and all general laws insofar as they protect the rights of others, and does in no manner recommend any acts in violation of present laws nor advocate any manner inimical to the public welfare.Since sodomy was illegalSodomy laws in the United StatesSodomy laws in the United States, which outlawed a variety of sexual acts, were historically universal. While they often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex, many statutes employed definitions broad enough to outlaw certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes as well,...
in every state in 1924, any participation in or advocacy of sex with other men would constitute a recommendation of an act in violation of a present law. Illinois was the first state to repeal its law but did not do so until 1962 (Hogan and Hudson, p. 634).
An African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
clergyman named John T. Graves signed on as president of the new organization and Gerber, Graves and five others were listed as directors. The state granted the charter on December 10, 1924, maing SHR the oldest documented homosexual organization in the nation.
Gerber created the first known American gay-interest publication, called Friendship and Freedom, as the SHR newsletter. However, few SHR members were willing to receive mailings of the newsletter, fearing that postal inspectors would deem the publication obscene under the Comstock Act. Indeed, all gay-interest publications were deemed obscene until 1958. Friendship and Freedom lasted two issues.
Gerber and Graves decided to limit SHR membership to gay men and exclude bisexuals. Unknown to them, SHR vice-president Al Weininger was married with two children. Weninger's wife reported SHR to a social worker in the summer of 1925, calling them "degenerates". The police interrogated Gerber and arrested him, Graves, Weininger and another man; the Chicago Examiner
Chicago's American
Chicago American, an afternoon newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, was the last flowering of the aggressive journalistic tradition depicted in the play and movie The Front Page....
reported the story under the headline "Strange Sex Cult Exposed". Gerber was tried three times. Charges against Gerber were eventually dismissed but his defense cost him his life savings, some or all of which may have been in the form of bribes paid through his lawyer. Gerber lost his post office job for "conduct unbecoming a postal worker" and Weninger paid a $10 fine for "disorderly conduct". SHR was destroyed and Gerber was left embittered that none of the wealthy gays of Chicago came to his aid for a cause designed to advance the common good.
Later life
Gerber's activities between the demise of SHR and 1927 are undocumented. In 1927, Gerber travelled to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where a friend from his Army days introduced him to a colonel. The officer encouraged Gerber to re-enlist and he did. Gerber served until 1945, when he received an honorable discharge. During his second enlistment, Gerber ran a pen pal
Pen pal
Pen pals are people who regularly write to each other, particularly via postal mail.-Purposes:A penpal relationship is often used to practice reading and writing in a foreign language, to improve literacy, to learn more about other countries and life-styles, and to make friendships...
service called "Connections" beginning in 1930. The service typically had between 150 and 200 members, the majority of whom were heterosexual. He continued writing articles for a variety of magazines, including one called Chanticleer, in which he sometimes made the case for homosexual rights. It was the norm for gay writers to use pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
s when writing on gay matters; Gerber sometimes wrote under his own name but sometimes used the name "Parisex". Gerber continued to write for the next 30 years.
In the 1950s, Gerber began exploring the New York gay scene more extensively and maintained a voluminous correspondence with other gay men, discussing gay organizing and strategies for answering societal prejudice. Gerber lived in New York until near the end of his life, when he moved into the Soldiers' and Airmens' home in Washington, D. C.. There he worked on his memoirs (the manuscripts are thought to be lost) and translations of German novels. Gerber died in the home on December 31, 1972, aged 80.
Legacy
Gerber was posthumously inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of FameChicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame
The Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Chicago. Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley attended nearly every installation ceremony each...
in 1992. The Henry Gerber House
Henry Gerber House
The Henry Gerber House is a house at 1710 North Crilly Court in the Old Town Triangle Chicago Landmark District of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The house was built in 1885. In the 1920s it housed the apartment occupied by Henry Gerber, founder of the short-lived Society for Human Rights,...
, located at 1710 N. Crilly Court, Chicago, contains the apartment in which Gerber lived when he founded SHR. It was designated a Chicago Landmark on June 1, 2001. The Gerber/Hart Library
Gerber/Hart Library
The Gerber/Hart Library , founded in 1981, is the largest circulating library of gay and lesbian titles in the Midwestern United States...
at 1127 West Granville Avenue is named in honor of Gerber and early civil rights defender Pearl M. Hart
Pearl M. Hart
Pearl M. Hart was a Chicago attorney notable for her work defending oppressed minority groups. Hart was the first woman in Chicago to be appointed Public Defender in the Morals Court. Most notably, she represented children, women, immigrants, lesbians, and gay men, often without fee or for a...
.
Gerber serves as a direct link between the LGBT-related activism of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and the American homophile movement of the 1950s. In 1929, a young man named Harry Hay
Harry Hay
Henry "Harry" Hay, Jr. was a labor advocate, teacher and early leader in the American LGBT rights movement. He is known for his roles in helping to found several gay organizations, including the Mattachine Society, the first sustained gay rights group in the United States.Hay was exposed early in...
was living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He soon discovered the cruising
Cruising for sex
Cruising for sex, or cruising is the act of walking or driving about a locality in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, one-time variety...
scene in Pershing Square
Pershing Square (Los Angeles)
Pershing Square is a public park in downtown Los Angeles, California. The park is exactly one square block in size, bounded by 5th Street to the north, 6th Street to the south, Hill Street to the east, and Olive Street to the west...
, where he met a man who had been a lover of one of Gerber's SHR compatriots. This man told Hay about the Society's brief history. Although Hay would later deny that he had any knowledge of previous LGBT activism, he was inspired by this knowledge to conceive in 1948 a proposal for gay men's political and social group. In 1950 Hay's idea reached fruition when he and several other men founded the Mattachine Society
Mattachine Society
The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
, the first enduring LGBT rights organization in the United States.