3. Exclusion from the American Dream
Make sure to review the LGBTQ Rights Timeline to help you understand the
evolution of laws surrounding the issue of rights for the LGBTQ community.
4. Exclusion from the American Dream
The “traditional” idea of family is a heterosexual one in many cultures, and
those who fall outside of this expectation have often been persecuted and
ostracized.
In the 17th century, English law explicitly prohibited acts of same-sex love,
and the punishment was death. Richard Cornish (aka Richard Williams)
was an English shipmaster accused and convicted of raping an indentured
servant aboard his ship. Cornish was subsequently hanged.
5. English laws were often duplicated in colonial America, and laws against
homosexuality were no exception.
Pennsylvania, a state governed by Quakers, was the first state to replace
the death penalty with the forfeiture of all lands and goods and
imprisonment of up to ten years.
Exclusion from the American Dream
6. Many people viewed members of the LGBTQ community as “evil” or as
mentally ill.
People who lived a different lifestyle from the “normal” heterosexual model
were seen as threats to culture. As Louis Crompton (1976) points out in
his article “Homosexuals and the Death Penalty in Colonial America,” the
Puritans were anxious that their claims in the New World should not be
compromised in God's eyes by failing to punish sexual criminals (pp. 279-
280).
Crompton, L (1976). Homosexuals and the death penalty in colonial America. Faculty Publications –
Department of English. Retrieved from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a787/62527be132f4e7f264274e311d0f38ad7772.pdf
Exclusion from the American Dream
7. The so-called “deviant” behavior of non-heterosexuals also came to be
considered a form of mental illness, which was given credence in 1952 by
the American Psychological Association, which classified homosexuality as
a “sociopathic personality disturbance.”
Homosexuality was thus classified as both an illness and a crime.
Illinois became the first state to decriminalize homosexuality in 1962. The
APA did not declassify homosexuality as a psychiatric disorder until 1973.
Exclusion from the American Dream
8. Exclusion from the American Dream
Same-sex love, or the implication
of same-sex love, has been
portrayed in literature from ancient
times. An example is Homer’s The
Iliad, in which Achilles and
Patroclus have a strong bond that
is often interpreted to include a
homosexual component.
American literature is no
different. As you learned in the
LGBTQ timeline, Walt Whitman
explored themes of
homosexuality in his poetry in the
19th century.
9. Exclusion from the American Dream
In the 20th century, American ideas began to change about homosexuality.
In 1924, The Society for Human Rights was formed in Chicago. It is the
first documented gay rights organization.
The Kinsey report was published in 1948, and it asserted that 50% of
American men and 28% of women had homosexual tendencies. It
received, as you can imagine, quite a bit of attention.
10. In the 21st century, the acceptance of non-traditional sexual identity
continues to grow.
In 2000, Vermont becomes the first state to legally recognize civil unions.
In 2004, Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize same-sex
marriage.
Exclusion from the American Dream
As of 2017, residents
of Washington, D. C.,
may now select the
gender-neutral
designation of “X” on
driver licenses.
11. American culture and its legal system have made some strides in assuring
equal access to the American Dream for members of the LGBTQ
community, but clearly there is a long way to go.
Exclusion from the American Dream
