Karl Heinrich Ulrichs was the first gay activist

A survey last year of LGBTs in the workplace revealed that 28%, more than one in four, are totally closeted and not out to anyone in their lives. Forty-six percent are closeted at work.

German lawyer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs came out to his family in 1862 – 157 years ago, and a few years after that to the world.

In 1854, apparently his superiors for his civil service job as an assistant attorney for the Kingdom of Hanover became aware of his sexuality, and he resigned rather than be fired. He later worked as a freelance newspaper reporter and a personal secretary.


His first pamphlet on “Researches on the Riddle of ‘Man-Manly’ Love” was published in 1864 at his own expense under a pseudonym. From the series, he’s credited with being the first to formulate a “scientific theory” of homosexuality, one some others would come to share because they, too, couldn’t imagine anything other than variations of the binary of expectations of “male” and “female.” Ulrichs believed in a “third gender.”

He believed that men attracted to other men had been born with a “woman’s spirit” in a male body. Women attracted to other women had a “male spirit” in a female body. Anyone attracted to both men and women had some of both. As their feelings were inborn the state should not view their actions as criminal to be punished.

more...