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LGBTQ+ History (Focus: Early 20th Century & 1920s Nightlife)
This page provides a contextual spine for references to queer subcultures in related 1920s pages (Harlem Renaissance, Jazz Age, Nightlife, Flapper).
Pre-1920s Threads
- Medical & Legal Framing: Late 19th–early 20th century saw pathologising taxonomies (“inversion,” “uranism”) but also nascent identity consciousness in urban Europe and North America.
- Urban Concentration: Ports, theatrical districts, and bohemian quarters fostered informal protective anonymity.
1920s Highlights
| Locale | Feature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Harlem (NYC) | Drag balls (Hamilton Lodge) | Thousands attended; interracial audiences; press both sensationalised and normalised presence. |
| Berlin | Cabarets & Sexual Science Institute | Relative Weimar permissiveness; lesbian magazines (Die Freundin). |
| Paris | Expat salons & music halls | Josephine Baker performances; racialised exotification intertwined with queer gaze. |
| Chicago | South Side jazz venues | Female blues singers encoding same-sex desire in lyrics. |
Cultural Expression
- Blues & Jazz Lyrics: Coded references to same-sex desire (Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Gladys Bentley); gender play in performance clothing.
- Fashion Signals: Tailored tuxedos on women, monocles, neckties, coloured handkerchief codes (proto-polari / not fully standardised yet), hair cropping.
- Print & Gossip: Society columns and scandal sheets circulated semi-public knowledge of queer-affiliated patrons.
Constraints & Risks
- Police raids, cross-dressing ordinances (in some cities), morality charges.
- Press framing oscillated between novelty humour and moral panic.
- Racialised policing intensified risk for Black and immigrant queer individuals.
Intersection with Women’s Liberation
Emergent feminist rejections of restrictive dress overlapped with but did not fully embrace lesbian identity; some “modern girls” experimented with androgyny without adopting enduring queer labels.
Writing Tips
- Use liminal thresholds (cloakrooms, alley exits, backstage corridors) as spaces where coded exchanges occur.
- Distinguish private vocabulary (in-group slang) from public euphemism ("confirmed bachelor", "sporty").
- Convey risk through micro-behaviours: a sudden check of door hinges when laughter gets “too free.”
Example
The drag queen’s sequins scattered light across the ceiling beam; beneath it two women in tailored black watched each other’s cigarettes more than the stage, timing their smiles between the patrol’s footsteps outside.