It was the end of the bloodiest war in history, but relief to many was a concept too far away.
Populations across Europe were scattered, entire cities were demolished,
and, too often, the hope of the LGBT+ community was too.
In Germany, queer people in concentration camps
were often required to continue their sentences.
Those jailed for homosexuality under the Nazi regime
were still viewed as criminals.
Two economies- Two atomic powers- Two different political systems-
Remained intact after the war.
The United States and the USSR became the two World Super Powers.
However, shared in their distaste for queer people .
Under Stalin's Russia, homosexuality remained a crime
and was often conflated with pedophilia and fascism.
Rather than seeing queer people as a pallet of political ideologies and identities,
Queerness, and any challenge to the status quo, became associated with the enemy.
"The danger of the Communist Party..."
The United States entered an era of prosperity- At least, for some people.
The economic boom that came after the war
prompted marginalized groups to ask:
"Where's our paradise?"
People of color, in attempt to escape the segregation of the South,
had moved to the cities in the North.
As a result, the "Affluent Society" moved to the suburbs-
A phenomenon called "White Flight."
The suburbs became the epitome of what the so-called "Normal Family" looked like:
A white husband and wife, two and a half kids, a dog named spot, and a white picket fence.
The media perpetuated the idea of the Nuclear Family and the culture reinforced the ideal of Conformity.
Television replaced radio as the dominant form of Media.
The story of American Society, if told by the Mass Media post war, would be
Sexism, Whiteness, Gender roles, and Straightness.
But even in the suburbs, there was an unspoken awareness of sexuality that remained silent.
The Kinsey Reports, published in 1948,
allowed for the Suburban household to become aware of the people nobody talked about.
At the time, the report was controversial for being open about homosexuality.
In fact, stating that 10% of the population was gay.
It openly talked about the issues of sexuality, an issue that many people kept quiet about, and thus
Queerness suddenly became an American talking point.
Although queer identities were still highly stigmatized,
the sudden awareness of queer people plants the seeds of acceptance into the public's minds.
To many, the new awareness of sexuality was a sign of degeneracy-
Or, in other words,
A threat.
Those in the "Affluent Society" strived to keep things the way they were.
Americans would do anything to keep the capitalist system that had brought so many to prosperity.
And thus, the threat of Communism became a fear-
Not for foreign nations, but for U.S. citizens at home.
The "Red Scare" prompted a communist witch hunt led by Joseph McCarthy.
But McCarthyism often relied on calling any dissent communist,
despite if the dissent was actually communist or not.
To McCarthy, anything threatening the American Moral Fabric was a Communist Plot, including homosexuality.
President Eisenhower's Executive Order 10450 banned queer people from becoming federal employees.
In what many historians call the "Lavender Scare,"
McCarthy and his associates fired hundreds of alleged homosexuals from the government,
and the hatred of outsider identities was solidified for a large part of the American people.
But slowly, outsiders themselves became a large part of the population.
The struggles of People of Color were becoming a reality to those unaware of it.
In a 1954 landmark decision by the Supreme Court,
Brown versus the Board of Education made segregation in schools illegal,
and the Modern Civil Rights movement gained a voice on the American stage.
As one marginalized group was beginning to have legal victories,
others began experimenting with organized activism.
The Mattachine Society, one of the earliest LGBT+ Rights groups in America,
followed some of the peaceful protest methods popularized in the early Civil Rights movement.
The Daughters of the Lightest provided queer women with support systems.
These early groups provided later groups the framework of future Queer Organizations.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon.
Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon are a lesbian couple that had been together since the 1950s, until Martin's death.
They founded the Lesbian Rights group, the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Lesbian Publication, the Ladder.
Their organizations were one of the first LGBT+ organizations in the U.S.
And joined the National Organization for Women, in order to push for the intersectionality of Lesbian and Women's Issues.
Harry Hay
Harry Hay was a gay activist who started another one of
the earliest LGBT+ Rights organizations of the United States, the Mattachine Society.
The Mattachine Society would often use methods of peaceful protest,
like the annual Reminder Protest, or "Sip-Ins,"
where they would refuse to leave a bar that refused to serve gay men.
The society later expanded itself into different chapters in places like New York.
Christene Jorgensen
Christene Jorgensen, although not the first trans woman to medically transition,
is one of the first transgender public figures in the U.S.
After the New York Daily news published her story, she became a celebrity
and used her status to speak about trans issues.
Thanks to her,
several trans people were able to discover their identities.
"Big Mama" Thornton
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton was a queer blues singer that rose to prominence in the 1940s and 50s.
Her biggest hit was a song called "Hound Dog," predating Elvis's recording by a few years.
She often wore traditionally masculine clothes on stage and was never ashamed of any harsh words from her critics.
The late 40s and early 50s marked a new age for America.
No longer was the country's culture in distinct bubbles, but now a uniform concept.
The urge to conform in an age of prosperity was a barrier for many,
but for others, it was a victory to be had.
As civil rights for African Americans gained the public eye,
other groups would strive for the same level of prominence.
Next on LGBT+ History by the Decades:
Learn about the writers, rebels and movements that set the stage for the Sexual Revolution.