Henry Gerber

Henry Gerber
Henry Gerber, date unknown
Born
Henry Joseph Dittmar

(1892-06-29)June 29, 1892
Passau, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
DiedDecember 31, 1972(1972-12-31) (aged 80)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation(s)United States Army
Writer
Known forGay activist; Founder, Society for Human Rights

Henry Gerber (June 29, 1892  in Passau, Bavaria[1]– December 31, 1972)[2] was an early gay rights activist in the United States. Inspired by the work of Germany's Magnus Hirschfeld and his Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and by the organisation Bund für Menschenrecht by Friedrich Radszuweit and Karl Schulz, Gerber founded the Society for Human Rights (SHR) in 1924, the nation's first known gay organization, and Friendship and Freedom, the first known American gay publication. SHR was short-lived, as police arrested several of its members shortly after it incorporated. Although embittered by his experiences, Gerber maintained contacts within the fledgling homophile movement of the 1950s and continued to agitate for the rights of homosexuals. Gerber has been repeatedly recognized for his contributions to the LGBT movement.[3]

  1. ^ "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Henry Gerber House" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2017. Retrieved February 21, 2016.
  2. ^ "Henry Gerber". Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved August 26, 2009.
  3. ^ "Henry Gerber on Governors Island". NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. Retrieved February 8, 2019.