Homosexuality 1800-1900

Though not totally accepting of LGBT people, the 1800s were more accepting of them than the previous century. American society did not question “same-sex ‘romantic friendships,’” and some of these “romantic friendships” did eventually lead to lasting relationships. However by the end of the century, people began to become suspicious of same-sex relationships. Legally, LGBT people were still not allowed to marry, but many relationships lasted a remarkably long time, such as the one between Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields, which lasted nearly 30 years. The main obstacle that LGBT people faced was that of jobs. Many women did not have equal job opportunities, but some, who passed as men, were able to get the same jobs that men had, and helped secure their relationship.

The 1800s saw many new signs of homosexuality in American culture. Walt Whitman’s 1860 version of Leaves of Grass includes the homoerotic Calamus poems. In this version, Whitman “extolled ‘the love of comrades’ - men's love for each other - at a time when homosexuality as such was still undefined.” To many, the Calamus poems in Leaves of Grass was hailed as “kind of manifesto of homosexuality.” For centuries before, many Native American tribes had people called “‘Berdache’ or ‘two spirit’ individuals occupied a special category outside of male and female in as many as 130 different Native American tribes.” These people were revered in their cultures for their “special nature, often taking a sacred role in tribal rituals.” In 1886, one such berdache, a Zuni named We’wha, came to Washington D.C. We’wha was called, “‘the most intelligent of the Zuni tribe,’ with an ‘indomitable will and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.’” Nobody realized that We’wha was not a woman and was in fact a man, but she was nonetheless accepted.