THE SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS-1925

by Henry Gerber

The joyful news that the State of Illinois had recently, to some extent at least, given up its persecution of homosexuals was appreciatively received by all of us concerned. Just 37 years ago, in 1925, a few of my friends and myself were dragged off to jail in Chicago causing our own efforts to ameliorate the plight of homosexuals to come to an early end.

From 1920 to 1923, I had served with the Army of Occupation in Germany after World War I. In Coblenz on the Rhine I had subscribed to German homophile magazines and made several trips to Berlin which was then not occupied by American forces. I had always bitterly felt the injustice with which my own American society accused the homosexual of "immoral acts." I hated this society which allowed the majority, frequently corrupt itself, to persecute those who deviated from the established norms in sexual matters.

5