Homosexuality 1600-1800

In the 1600s and 1700s, many colonists in the United States regarded homosexuality as utterly wrong. In the British colonies, homosexuality, otherwise referred to as sodomy, was a serious crime. Considered a "capital crime", sodomy was punishable by death, however this penalty was rarely enforced. To charge someone with sodomy "two witnesses were required, and there was no possibility of a tell-tale pregnancy - and people may have been reluctant to place their neighbor's lives in jeopardy with such a dire accusation". More commonly, people were charged with "lewd behavior", a less serious offense which wasn't punishable by death.

There are some examples of the treatment of homosexuals at that time. One of the earliest, in 1624, is of Richard Cornish, sea captain in Virginia. He was executed for an "alleged sexual assault on another man". Another example was in 1642 in Massachusetts, where Elizabeth Johnson was "whipped and fined for 'unseemly practices with another maid attempting to do that which man and woman do". Clearly, homosexuality was frowned upon by many at the time.

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