During World War 2, with so many men off at war, women and LGBTQ+ individuals stepped into roles and spaces that had been traditionally off limits to them. Women worked in factories, joined the workforce in large numbers and became more visible in public life. Queer people began to find more freedom. These shifts laid the foundation for what would become two major movements. However, when the war was over there was a push for people to return to traditional gender roles. “Patriarchy is really America’s default setting, it's always been problematic in American society when women have gained power.” (Chris Gatt) “When the returning GI’s returned home within two days of victory in the pacific, over eight-hundred thousand women were fired from the aircraft industry and other companies began to follow.” (Chris Gatt)
Women were expected to return to their homemaker ways and LGBTQ+ folks faced intense discrimination.“Many minds were opened by wartime, during which LGBT people were both tolerated in military service and officially sentenced to death camps in the Holocaust. This increasing awareness of an existing and vulnerable population, coupled with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s investigation of homosexuals holding government jobs during the early 1950s outraged writers and federal employees whose own lives were shown to be second-class under the law, including Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, Allen Ginsberg, and Harry Hay.”(Morris)
This repression did not silence people, it inspired people to fight back. Public spaces became crucial to that resistance. It is wild to think that just meeting at a community center was a radical act, but that is exactly what activists did. Apa.org reads, “In the United States, there were few attempts to create advocacy groups supporting gay and lesbian relationships until after World War II. However, prewar gay life flourished in urban centers such as New York’s Greenwich Village and Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. The blues music of African-American women showcased varieties of lesbian desire, struggle, and humor; these performances, along with male and female drag stars, introduced a gay underworld to straight patrons during Prohibition’s defiance of race and sex codes in speakeasy clubs.” (Morris)
Groups used public spaces to gather, support each other, and organize. These spaces helped people realize they were not alone and gave them strength to challenge the systems that were oppressing them. This shows how important public space is for visibility and building momentum. For women and queer people in the 1950s, just being seen and existing publicly was political. It goes to show how change often starts in simple ways, by showing up, taking up space and refusing to be silenced. I think a lot about how our generation still uses public space both in person and online to continue to fight for justice. It makes me appreciate the bravery of the first people that were not afraid to fight for their rights and to swim against the current.
Works Cited:
Chris Gatt. “MissRepresentation - after WWII.mp4.” YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012,
. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
Morris, Bonnie. “A Brief History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Movements.” American Psychological Association, 16 Mar. 2023, www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/history.
Women were expected to return to their homemaker ways and LGBTQ+ folks faced intense discrimination.“Many minds were opened by wartime, during which LGBT people were both tolerated in military service and officially sentenced to death camps in the Holocaust. This increasing awareness of an existing and vulnerable population, coupled with Senator Joseph McCarthy’s investigation of homosexuals holding government jobs during the early 1950s outraged writers and federal employees whose own lives were shown to be second-class under the law, including Frank Kameny, Barbara Gittings, Allen Ginsberg, and Harry Hay.”(Morris)
This repression did not silence people, it inspired people to fight back. Public spaces became crucial to that resistance. It is wild to think that just meeting at a community center was a radical act, but that is exactly what activists did. Apa.org reads, “In the United States, there were few attempts to create advocacy groups supporting gay and lesbian relationships until after World War II. However, prewar gay life flourished in urban centers such as New York’s Greenwich Village and Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. The blues music of African-American women showcased varieties of lesbian desire, struggle, and humor; these performances, along with male and female drag stars, introduced a gay underworld to straight patrons during Prohibition’s defiance of race and sex codes in speakeasy clubs.” (Morris)
Groups used public spaces to gather, support each other, and organize. These spaces helped people realize they were not alone and gave them strength to challenge the systems that were oppressing them. This shows how important public space is for visibility and building momentum. For women and queer people in the 1950s, just being seen and existing publicly was political. It goes to show how change often starts in simple ways, by showing up, taking up space and refusing to be silenced. I think a lot about how our generation still uses public space both in person and online to continue to fight for justice. It makes me appreciate the bravery of the first people that were not afraid to fight for their rights and to swim against the current.
Works Cited:
Chris Gatt. “MissRepresentation - after WWII.mp4.” YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012,
. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024.
Morris, Bonnie. “A Brief History of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Social Movements.” American Psychological Association, 16 Mar. 2023, www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/history.