Shining a Light on LGBTQ+ History

Hope you’re all having a glorious LGBTQ+ History Month! We’re Grace Wilding and Harry Day, two software engineers from Capgemini, here to discuss all about LGBTQ+ History and why it means so much to us. So, what is this month all about? It is primarily a time to remember the ordeals the LGBTQ+ community has had, as well as those who worked tirelessly to achieve the liberty we have today and educate ourselves on our community’s history. This is especially prevalent as our education currently doesn’t provide enough in terms of LGBTQ+ history.

Grace Wilding (left) and Harry Day (right) are both software engineers at Capgemini. Source: Capgemini

Grace here. I’m hoping things are starting to change, but from experience, LGBTQ+ people aren’t represented or taught enough, and neither is our history. Aside from Alan Turing I struggle to name any notable names from history who are LGBTQ+ that I was taught about at school - there are probably more but if there are, their identities were probably “conveniently” overlooked. Even Stonewall, arguably the biggest in the community’s history, is barely touched upon, especially outside of pride month. A lot of LGBTQ+ history I know I’ve had to learn myself, either through films (such as Pride) or through pure chance on various social media and further research. The community really isn’t represented enough throughout history, and I think it’s why we have this idea that being LGBTQ+ is a “new” thing when it isn't - we’ve always been around, just hidden.

One event that gets overlooked a lot is the destruction and loss of the Hirschfeld institute as a result of the Nazi book burnings. Like a lot of people, I was taught about the Nazis in high school and the book burnings were mentioned, but I never knew about the Hirschfeld Institute until a couple of years ago myself. It set the whole community, especially the trans community, a long way back in terms of providing important LGBTQ+ healthcare such as gender-affirming surgery for trans people.

Named after Magnus Hirschfeld, a gay Jewish sexologist, the Institute for Sexual Research was established in 1919 and performed some of the first gender-affirming surgeries for trans women until its destruction in 1933. At a time where homosexuality was still illegal, not only did Hirschfeld provide sex education and contraception for the community, but he also fought to overturn Paragraph 175, the clause which made homosexuality illegal in Germany, and dedicated his life to liberating the LGBTQ+ community. Alongside his Jewish ancestry, Hirschfeld’s work made him a prime target for the Nazi party, with the destruction of the Hirschfeld Institute becoming one of the first and largest Nazi book burnings, with over 20,000 books being lost to history.

Lili Elbe, the woman who inspired the film The Danish Girl, was even one of his patients, yet his name never even appears in the book that inspired the film, proving that the work and his contributions were effectively erased by Nazi violence. While Stonewall was an important moment in LGBTQ+ History and it’s certainly important to remember it, I think it often (unintentionally) results in people acting as if it was the foundation of the community’s history, continuing the erasure of the work done by the Institute of Sexual Research.

The erasure of LGBTQ+ people from history as a result of colonization is another issue that should be spoken about a lot more, but I think that issue goes deeper than just LGBTQ+ history. This is part of the larger issue of colonialism and its oppression of various cultures - so many cultures worldwide have a history of tolerance and acceptance towards the community, yet it is largely forgotten about, especially in countries like Japan where they now have a reputation for being homophobic and/or transphobic. We need the spotlight to be on more queer Black, brown and/or Asian members of our community throughout history, which is why it is also vital we continue to learn about Stonewall.

Harry here. As we’ve said, so much of LGBTQ+ culture is missed from the current education system, despite most of queer history being filled with core values of stoicism, community, and empowerment. Like Grace, I had little knowledge of those who made up LGBTQ+ history, which is why I want to take this moment to celebrate those who have, by talking about 3 members I wish to shed more light on.