View source for Homophile movement

{{short description|Collective term for the LGBT organisations of the 1950-60s}}The '''homophile movement''' is a collective term for the main organisations and publications supporting and representing [[Sexual minority|sexual minorities]] in the 1950s to 1960s around the world. The name comes from the term ''[[homophile]]'', which was commonly used by these organisations in an effort to deemphasize the sexual aspect of homosexuality. At least some of these organisations are considered to have been more cautious than both earlier and later [[LGBT rights organization|LGBT organisations]]; in the [[United States|U.S.]], the nationwide coalition of homophile groups disbanded after older members clashed with younger members who had become more radical after the [[Stonewall riots]] of 1969.

[[File:The Ladder, October 1957.jpg|thumb|right|The October 1957 edition of ''[[The Ladder (magazine)|The Ladder]]'', mailed to hundreds of women in the San Francisco area, urged women to take off their masks. The motif of masks and unmasking was prevalent in the homophile era, prefiguring the political strategy of coming out and giving the [[Mattachine Society]] its name.]]

[[File:Mattachine Newsletter, Colorado, 1957 (18458829385).jpg|thumb|Mattachine Newsletter, Colorado, 1957, Collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Archives Center, Collection AC1146, Box 2, folder 10]]

==History==
The [[Homosexuality|homosexual]] organizations and publications of the 1950s and 1960s, which commonly used the term "[[homophile]]", are now known collectively as the homophile movement.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9780230355002 |title=Male Homosexuality in West Germany — Between Persecution and Freedom, 1945–69 |author=Clayton Whisnant |year=2012 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |doi=10.1057/9781137028341 |isbn=978-1-349-34681-3 |language=en}}</ref> The term "homophile" was coined by German psychoanalyst Karl-Günther Heimsoth in 1924, before being popularized by the [[COC Nederland|Dutch COC]].{{cn|date=January 2025}} Proponents of the term hoped to emphasize the romantic rather than sexual aspect of same-sex relationships by replacing the -sexual suffix with the Greek root "philos," meaning love. They hoped to distinguish further by describing people as homophiles, while reserving "homosexual" to describe sexual activity itself.<ref name=":1" />

After the gains made by the [[LGBT movements|homosexual rights movements]] of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the vibrant homosexual subcultures of the 1920s and 1930s became silent as [[World War II|war]] engulfed Europe. Germany was the traditional home of such movements and activists,{{efn|The world's first gay rights organization, [[Scientific-Humanitarian Committee]], was founded in Germany in 1897 by [[Magnus Hirschfeld]]. [[Ernst Burchard]], [[Karl Heinrich Ulrichs]], and [[Max Spohr]] were also early gay rights leaders in Germany.}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ross |first=Alex |date=2015-01-19 |title=Berlin Story |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/berlin-story |access-date=2024-10-13 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref> but in [[Nazi Germany]], [[gay literature]] was burned, gay organizations were dissolved, and many gay men imprisoned in [[Nazi concentration camp|concentration camp]]s. The Swiss journal ''[[Der Kreis]]'' ("the circle") was the primary homosexual publication in Europe and the only one to publish during the Nazi era.<ref>{{Cite web |title=queerplaces - Anna "Mammina" Vock |url=http://www.elisarolle.com/queerplaces/a-b-ce/Anna%20Vock.html |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=www.elisarolle.com}}</ref> ''Der Kreis'' was edited by [[Anna Vock]], and later [[Karl Meier]]; the group gradually shifted from being female-dominated to male-dominated through the 1930s, as the tone of the magazine simultaneously became less militant.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kennedy |first=Hubert |date=2005 |title=Vock, Anna (1885-1962) |url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/literature/vock_a_lit_L.pdf |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=GLBTQ, Inc.}}</ref>

After the war, organizations began to re-form, such as the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[COC Nederland|COC]] in 1946. Other, new organizations arose, including [[Forbundet af 1948]] ("League of 1948"), founded by [[Axel Axgil]] in [[Denmark]], with {{ill|Helmer Fogedgaard|qid=Q113808979|short=yes}} publishing an associated magazine called ''[[Vennen]]'' (The Friend) from January 1949 until 1953.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://international.coc.nl/about-us/ |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=COC Netherlands - International}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A short timeline |url=https://www.kb.dk/en/inspiration/copenhagen-pride/short-timeline |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=kb.dk |language=en-GB}}</ref> Fogedgaard used the pseudonym "Homophilos", introducing the concept of "homophile" in May 1950, unaware that the word had been presented as an alternative term a few months previously by {{ill|Jaap van Leeuwen|es||nl}}, one of the founders of the Dutch COC. The word soon spread among members of the emerging post-war movement who were happy to emphasize the respectable romantic side of their relationships over genital sexuality.

A [[Sweden|Swedish]] branch of Forbundet af 1948 was formed in 1949 and a [[Norway|Norwegian]] branch in 1950. The Swedish organization became independent under the name ''[[Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights|Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande]]'' (RFSL, "Federation for Sexual Equality") in 1950, led by {{ill|Allan Hellman|sv}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magnusson |first=Jan |date=2004 |title=Sweden |url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/sweden_S.pdf |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=GLBTQ, Inc.}}</ref> The same year in the United States, the [[Mattachine Society]] was formed, and other organizations such as [[ONE, Inc.]] (1952) and the [[Daughters of Bilitis]] (1955) soon followed. Daughters of Bilitis was the first lesbian homophile organization in the U.S., and it emerged in the context of alienation felt by women in male-dominated Mattachine Society and ONE.<ref name="Rupp, Taylor & Roth 2018">{{cite book <!-- Citation bot bypass--> |last=Rupp |first=Leila J |last2=Taylor |first2=Verta |last3=Roth |first3=Benita |chapter=Women in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Movement |chapter-url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82r4m5x8 |via=eScholarship |editor-last=McCammon |editor-first=Holly J. |editor-last2=Taylor |editor-first2=Verta A. |editor-last3=Reger |editor-first3=Jo |editor-last4=Einwohner |editor-first4=Rachel |title=The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Women's Social Movement Activism |date=2018-10-29 |orig-year=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |publication-place=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-020421-1 |oclc=962360000 |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/43643 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190204204.001.0001}}</ref> In 1954, nearly 60,000 copies of ONE's magazine were distributed, though its actual readership was likely much higher due to the practice of surreptitiously circulating existing copies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Briker |first=Gregory |date=2020-04-01 |title=THE RIGHT TO BE HEARD: ONE Magazine, Obscenity Law, and the Battle Over Homosexual Speech |url=https://openyls.law.yale.edu/handle/20.500.13051/7567 |journal=Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities |issn=1659-4029}}</ref><ref name="West 2013">{{cite thesis |last=West |first=Alisha |title=Exploring the missing pieces: readers, religion and societal relations in ONE magazine, 1954-1963. |publisher=University of Louisville |date=2013 |doi=10.18297/etd/1551 |doi-access=free |degree=M.A. |url=https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2550&context=etd |access-date=2024-12-25 |page=}}</ref> Homophile organizations elsewhere include [[Arcadie (French homophile organization)|Arcadie]] (1954) in [[France]] and the [[British Empire|British]] [[Homosexual Law Reform Society]] (founded 1958).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Metcalf |first=Meg |title= LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide: Before Stonewall: The Homophile Movement |url=https://guides.loc.gov/lgbtq-studies/before-stonewall#s-lib-ctab-22776025-1 |orig-date=June 1, 2019 |date=July 14, 2022 |access-date=2024-10-13 |website=Research Guides at Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref>

These groups are generally considered to have been politically cautious, in comparison to the LGBT movements that both preceded and followed them. Historian Michael Sibalis describes the belief of the French homophile group Arcadie, "that public hostility to homosexuals resulted largely from their outrageous and promiscuous behaviour; homophiles would win the good opinion of the public and the authorities by showing themselves to be discreet, dignified, virtuous and respectable."<ref name=Sibalis>Sibalis, Michael, 2005. "[http://www.h-france.net/rude/2005conference/Sibalis2.pdf Gay Liberation Comes to France: The Front Homosexuel d’Action Révolutionnaire (FHAR)]", ''French History and Civilization''. Papers from the George Rudé Seminar. Volume 1.</ref> However, while some were prepared to [[Coming out|come out]], they did risk severe persecution, and some figures within the Homophile movement such as the American [[Communism|communist]] [[Harry Hay]] were more radical.

In 1951, the president and vice-president of the Dutch COC initiated an International Congress of European homophile groups, which resulted in the formation of the [[International Committee for Sexual Equality]] (ICSE).<ref name=":1" /> The ICSE brought together, among other groups, the Forbundet of 1948 (Scandinavia), the Riksförbundet för Sexuellt Likaberättigande (Sweden), Arcadie (France), Der Kreis (Swiss), and, later, ONE (U.S.).  Historian Leila Rupp describes the ICSE as a classic example of transnational organizing; "It created a network across national borders, nurtured a transnational homophile identity, and engaged in activism designed to change both laws and minds."  However, the ICSE failed to last beyond the early 1960s due to poor attendance at meetings, lack of active leaders, and failure of members to pay dues.<ref name=":1">Rupp, Leila (2011). "The Persistence of Transnational Organizing: The Case of the Homophile Movement." ''The American Historical Review'' 116:4 (Oct. 2011): 1014-1039.</ref>

By the early-1960s, [[lesbian]], [[gay]], [[Bisexuality|bisexual]], and [[transgender]] people in the United States were forming more visible communities, and this was reflected in the political strategies of American homophile groups. [[Frank Kameny]], an American [[astronomer]] and gay rights activist, had co-founded the Mattachine Society in Washington D.C.in 1961. While the society did not take much political activism to the streets at first, Kameny and several members attended the 1963 [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]], where having seen the methods used by Black [[Civil and political rights|civil rights activists]], they then applied them to the Homophile movement. Kameny had also been inspired by the black power movements slogan "[[Black is beautiful|Black is Beautiful]]", coining his own term "Gay is Good".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yurcaba |first1=Jo |title=Different fight, 'same goal': How the Black freedom movement inspired early gay activists |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/different-fight-same-goal-how-black-freedom-movement-inspired-early-n1259072 |website=NBC News  |access-date=14 October 2022 |date=28 February 2021}}</ref> From the mid-1960s, they engaged in [[List of pre-Stonewall LGBT actions in the United States|picketing and sit-ins]], identifying themselves in public space for the first time. Kameny further implemented the use of [[Protest|social protest]] methods of advocating for rights through his timeline as an activist. While earlier in his career as an activist, he as well as other organizers [[Picketing|picketed]] out [[White House|the White House.]] Not only did Kameny continue his work with the Mattachine society, but furthered on to work with other notable gay rights groups like [[ACT UP]], where he continued to use [[civil disobedience]] in his efforts to "...accord gays and lesbians the same rights and privileges enjoyed by all citizens."<ref name="Bullough 2008">{{Cite book |last=Bullough  |first=Vern L. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1017737717 |title=Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-56023-193-6 |oclc=1017737717}}</ref> Formed in 1964, the [[San Francisco|San Franciscan]] Society for Individual Rights (SIR) had a new openness and a more participatory democratic structure. SIR was focused on building community, and sponsored [[drag show]]s, dinners, [[Contract bridge|bridge clubs]], [[bowling league]]s, [[Softball|softball games]], field trips, art classes, and meditation groups. In 1966, SIR opened the nation's first [[LGBT community centre|gay and lesbian community center]], and by 1968 they had over 1000 members, making them the largest homophile organization in the country. The world's first gay bookstore had opened in [[New York City|New York]] the year before. A [[Annual Reminder|1965 gay picket held in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia]], according to some historians, marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement. Meanwhile, in San Francisco in 1966, transgender street [[Prostitution|prostitutes]] in the poor neighborhood of [[Tenderloin, San Francisco, California|Tenderloin]] rioted against [[Police misconduct|police harassment]] at a popular all-night restaurant, the [[Compton's Cafeteria riot|Compton Cafeteria]]. These and other activities of public resistance to oppression led to a feeling of [[Gay Liberation]] that was soon to give a name to a new movement.

[[File:Stonewall Inn, West Village (6445656765).jpg|thumb|[[Stonewall Inn]], [[Greenwich Village]], is now a [[National Historical Landmark]].]]
In 1963, homophile organizations in New York City, [[Philadelphia]], and [[Washington, D.C.]] joined to form [[East Coast Homophile Organizations]] (ECHO) to more closely coordinate their activities. The success of ECHO inspired other homophile groups across the country to explore the idea of forming a national homophile umbrella group. This was done with the formation in 1966 of the [[North American Conference of Homophile Organizations]] (NACHO, rhymes with Waco).{{sfn |Bianco |1999 |p=174}} NACHO held annual conferences, helped start dozens of local gay groups across the country and issued [[position paper]]s on a variety of LGBT-related issues. It organized national demonstrations, including a May 1966 action against [[Sexual orientation and gender identity in the United States military|military discrimination]] that included the country's first gay motorcade.{{sfn |Fletcher |1992 |p=42}} Through its legal defense fund, NACHO challenged anti-gay laws and regulations ranging from immigration issues and military service to the legality of serving alcohol to homosexuals.{{sfn |Bianco |1999 |p=175}} NACHO disbanded after a contentious 1970 conference at which older members and younger members, radicalized in the wake of the 1969 [[Stonewall riots]], clashed.{{sfn |Armstrong |2002 |p=79}}  ''Gay Sunshine'' magazine declared the convention "the battle that ended the homophile movement".<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb |Armstrong |2002 |p=79}}</ref> The [[gay liberation]] movement, which emerged around this time, replaced the term "homophile" by a new set of terminology such as [[gay]], [[lesbian]], and [[Bisexuality|bisexual]].

==Organisations and publications==

'''Denmark'''
* [[Forbundet af 1948]] (1948–?) and ''Pan'' (1954–present)
* [[International Homosexual World Organisation]] (IHWO), 1952? – first half of the 1970s, political since second half of the 1960s, founded by [[Axel and Eigil Axgil]], German chapter named: ''Internationale Homophile Welt-Organisation'')

'''France'''
* [[Arcadie (French homophile organization)#Literary review|Arcadie]] (journal, published 1954–1982), and organisation with the same name. Often published with the subtitle "Mouvement homophile de France".

'''Netherlands'''
* [[COC Nederland|COC]] (1946–present) is the earliest homophile organisation. Their first magazine, {{ill|Vriendschap|qid=Q123935327|short=yes|italic=yes}} (''Friendship''), was published from 1949 to 1964 and digitally available at [[IHLIA LGBT Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Digitale Collectie|url=http://www.ihlia.nl/dopage.pl?pagina=pdflib&vestiging=ihlia&dir2=Vriendschap|website=ihlia.nl|publisher=Vriendschap|access-date=25 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040929070100/http://www.ihlia.nl/dopage.pl?pagina=pdflib&vestiging=ihlia&dir2=Vriendschap|archive-date=29 September 2004|language=nl|url-status=dead}}</ref> They also produced a number of other publications.

'''Sweden'''
* [[RFSL]], ''Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande''—"Federation for Sexual Equality", known since 2007 as the "Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights" (1950–present)

'''United Kingdom'''
* [[Homosexual Law Reform Society]] (1958–1970 when it was renamed as the Sexual Law Reform Society). The HLRS was formed as a response to the 1957 [[Wolfenden report]]. Most of the members were heterosexual.
* [[Campaign for Homosexual Equality]] (1964–present)

'''United States'''
* ''[[Vice Versa (magazine)|Vice Versa]]: America's Gayest Magazine'' (1947–1948), the first lesbian periodical in the United States, was free. [[Lisa Ben]] (an anagram of "lesbian"), the 25-year-old Los Angeles secretary who created Vice Versa, chose the name "because in those days our kind of life was considered a vice".
* [[Knights of the Clock]] ({{circa|1950}}–?); first interracial gay organization. Focused on social activities but also worked on employment and housing concerns for interracial couples.
* The [[Mattachine Society]] (1950–1987) and the ''Mattachine Review'' (1955–1966);<ref name=UCDavis>[http://wgs.ucdavis.edu/sexualitystudies/ucd-special-collections "Sexuality Studies at UC Davis, Sexuality Studies Resources Held in the UC Davis Shields Library's Special Collections Department"]. Retrieved April 8, 2006.</ref> ''Homosexual Citizen'', (published by the Washington chapter, 1966–?)
* The [[Daughters of Bilitis]] (1955–present) and ''[[The Ladder (magazine)|The Ladder]]'' (1956–1972); ''Focus'' (published by the Boston chapter, 1971–1983); ''Sisters'', (National, published in San Francisco, 1971–1975).
* [[ONE, Inc.]] (1952–present) and ''One'' magazine (1953–1972);<ref name=UCDavis/> ''Homophile Studies'' (1958–1964)
* The League for Civil Education (1960 or 1961–?) and ''The LCE News'' (1961–?)
* The [[Janus Society]] (1962–1969) and ''[[Drum (American magazine)|DRUM]]'' magazine (1964–1969). A racy gay-male oriented magazine, ''DRUM'' reached a circulation of 10,000 by 1966.
* [[:pt:Society for Individual Rights|Society for Individual Rights]] (1964–1976)<ref name=UCDavis/> and ''Vector'' (1965–1977)
* The [[Homosexual Law Reform Society]] (1965–1969)
* Phoenix Society for Individual Freedom, Kansas City MO, and ''[[The Phoenix: Midwest Homophile Voice]]'', (1966–1972)
* Society Advocating Mutual Equality (SAME) (1966–1968), Rock Island IL, "The Challenger" newsletter
* [[Homophile Action League]] (Philadelphia) and the ''HAL Newsletter'' (1969–1970)

'''International'''
* [[International Committee for Sexual Equality]] (ICSE) (1951–1963); Formed by the Dutch COC and functioned as an umbrella organization that united many of the above national organizations from Europe and the United States.  Published two German language periodicals, ''ICSE Kurier'' and ''ICSE-PRESS''.

==See also==
{{Portal|1950s|1960s|LGBTQ}}
* [[Straight ally]]
* [[Terminology of homosexuality]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==

{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
<!--{{sfn |Armstrong |2002 |p=}}-->
*{{cite book |last=Armstrong |first=Elizabeth |title=Forging Gay Identities: Organizing Sexuality in San Francisco, 1950-1994 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |publication-place=Chicago |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-226-02694-7 |oclc=1285556875 |url=https://archive.org/details/forginggayidenti0000arms |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
<!--{{sfn |Bianco |1999 |p=}}-->
*{{cite book |last=Bianco |first=David |title=Gay Essentials: Facts For Your Queer Brain |publisher=Alyson Books |publication-place=Los Angeles, CA |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-55583-508-8 |oclc=1149272917 |url=https://archive.org/details/gayessentialsfac0000bian |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
<!--{{sfn |Fletcher |1992 |p=}}-->
*{{cite book |last=Fletcher |first=Lynne |title=The First Gay Pope and Other Records |publisher=Alyson Publications |publication-place=Boston |year=1992 |isbn=978-1-55583-206-3 |oclc=1244729965 |url=https://archive.org/details/firstgaypopeothe0000flet |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline|homophile}}
*{{commons category-inline|LGBT}}

{{Early U.S. gay rights movement}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1920s neologisms]]
[[Category:20th century in LGBTQ history]]
[[Category:LGBTQ and society]]
[[Category:LGBTQ rights movement]]
[[Category:LGBTQ terminology]]