If you thought that your own coming out was scary, just imagine what it was like to come out 150 or 200 years earlier, without the support of a gay movement. Karl Heinrich Ulrichs dared to find out.

Today's gay people can make the acquaintance of Ulrichs, thelr brave and ardent forefather, in Hubert Kennedy's carefully researched scholarly biography, Ulrichs (Alyson Publications, 1988), to which I'm indebted for the information recounted here. 

1854
In 1854, a betrayal following a sexual encounter compelled Ulrichs to quit his job as an assistant attorney in the German civil service and forsake a career with the state. But a new career began as he justified his erotic interests to himself and came out to his family. 

First Writing: 1862
Ulrichs's initiation into radical sexual politics began in the summer of 1862, when a prominent Social Democratic politician was arrested for "a bit of fooling around with a young lad in the castle garden" (as Ulrichs described the crime). In response, Ulrichs wrote his earliest advocacy piece for men who loved men. 

First Publication: 1864
Ulrichs published the first of his set of booklets in defense of what he called "urning love" in 1864, using a pseudonym. Between that year and 1879, he published 12 such booklets. 

In these publications, Ulrichs began developing a general theory of sex-love: 

The love of the urning for a "true man" was caused by a feminine soul inhabiting a male body. Urning love, he stressed, was inborn and perfectly natural, though atypical, unusual. It no more deserved legal punishment and social stigma than the "dioning love" of the "true man" and "true woman." (Both terms, urning and dioning, were derived from Plato's Symposium.) 

Ulrichs's theory was later broadened to include masculine men who loved men, and women who loved women. His courageous activity on behalf of the persecuted remains inspiring. 

First Attempt at Public Speech: 1865
In 1865, Ulrichs and a supportive friend boldly asked the leading group of German lawyers, judges, and legislators to discuss the decriminalization of sex between men. 

The group refused even to talk about such a scandalous proposal, much less recommend it. But the stubborn Ulrichs, a 40-year-old journalist, student of law and medicine, and independent scholar, refused to drop the issue. 

Bylaws for the Urning Union: September 1865
As Ulrichs began to publish his defenses of urning love, he got to know a larger group of men-loving men and, in September 1865, even drafted a set of "Bylaws for the Urning Union." Though the group probably never existed, the plan formulates the earliest-known dream of a homosexual emancipation organization.

First Actual Public Speech: August 29, 1867
Two years later, on the morning of August 29, 1867, in Munich, Ulrichs stood before the same group of 500 jurists that he had addressed in 1865, and did what no one in history had ever done. 

Ulrichs publicly championed the cause of a "class of persons" subjected "to an undeserved legal persecution for no other reason than ... nature has planted in them a sexual nature that is the opposite of that which is ... usual."

Ulrichs' perception that same-sex lovers formed a "class" suggests that this group was forming a sense of its collective existence and persecution.

"I acted fearlessly, although my heart was pounding," Ulrichs said later. His advocacy caused a great furor, and discussion of decriminalization was not permitted. 

First Magazine
In 1870, Ulrichs achieved another first by publishing a single issue of a magazine for man-loving men -- the first homosexual emancipation periodical. 

Ulrichs's interests were wide; for opposing the Prussian conquest of Hannover, he was twice imprisoned. He also spoke up for German unification, and for the end of the death penalty. He advocated for the struggles of all who were persecuted: "We who know what it means to be oppressed and martyred, we can from the heart take the side of those whom we see in a similar position." 

1870s
But no movement formed to support Ulrichs's revolutionary ideas, and he became discouraged when, by the 1870s, due to Prussian influence, almost all the German states had passed new sodomy laws.

1880
In 1880, Ulrichs moved to Aquila (now L'Aquila), in Italy, and ceased to agitate publicly for urning love. 

Symonds Visits: October 1891
In October 1891, the 66-year-old Ulrichs was visited by the leading troublemaker of the next generation, who in retrospect we can call a "homosexual emancipation activist," John Addington Symonds.

This English literary critic and historian had privately published two essays in defense of "sexual inverts" (his term for men and women sexually attracted to their own sex). He had also unsuccessfully badgered Walt Whitman to come out in support of sodomy law reform. And Symonds would also initiate research on the important early book Sexual Inversion, published as the work of Havelock Ellis.

With his handsome servant and lover, Angelo Fusato, Symonds spent an afternoon and evening with Ulrichs, later describing him to a friend:

"There is a singular charm about the old man: great sweetness, the remains of refined beauty. His squalor was appalling . . . . He had no shirt and no stockings on. My magnificent Venetian gondolier and manservant was appalled at the sight of this poor beggar sitting next to his padrone. However, I told Angelo that the old man was one of the men I prized and respected most in Europe. And Angelo got to like him in spite of his rags."

Ulrichs and America

If researchers follow up on any of the following leads OutHistory will be very glad to publish your findings. Contact: outhistory@gmail.com

References to rare, intriguing, and tantalizingly incomplete bits of LGBTQ U.S. history are scattered throughout Ulrich's writings. I thank Hubert Kennedy for providing these intriguing details, some of which may lead researchers to fascinating new evidence. These references all appear in Ulrichs' original German publications.

*1865, Ulrichs discussed philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's comment that "lack of women" can sometimes "give rise" to pederasty (same-sex sex) in "womenless colonies -- California was cited as an example! The state already had a reputation as a breeding place for those who experienced what were thought of as irregular sexualities

*1866: Ulrichs argued that women who dressed and fought as men in the recent American Civil War should not be denied their rights -- just as urnings had inalienable rights, regardless of what they wore. This is an amazing, early linking of what we call transgender rights with the rights of those that Gore Vidal called "same-sexers."

*1867: a German theater director named Feldtmann was arrested and jailed for having sex with three 19-year-old men, one named "Benguot from New Orleans."

*1867: a respected Methodist minister, Rev. Cartridge of Stockton, California, was caught with another man, causing an uproar in his congregation, though not all of his parishioners condemned the preacher. Cartridge was sentenced to five years in jail. California again appears as a hotbed of same-sex sexual activity.

*1868: Rejecting the notion that same-sex erotic activity was caused by masturbation (a popular medical theory), Ulrichs cited Dr. Julius Hoffmann of Wurzburg, Bavaria, who in 1868 had worked in an insane asylum in Jacksonville, Illinois. Hoffman there observed that, given the chance, inmates who masturbated never turned to their own sex, but went right on playing with themselves. Hoffman reportedly supported sodomy law repeal or reform. It would be fascinating to know more about that Illinois asylum, Dr. Hoffman's work there, and Dr. Hoffman, himself.

In his collection of Urlichs' correspondence translated into English, Douglas Ogilvy Pretsell publishes the following letter from Dr. Hoffman: 

Your books are enough to convince any person who judges impartially … [Report on his experiences in 1868, working in an insane asylum:]

Day and night and under all circumstances I had the opportunity to observe them. Of them all, however, there was not one who sexually approached another. I never noticed even the slightest inclination or wish of that kind, expressed by word or action. Also, they never had the opportunity to carry it out in secret, because of the strict house guards employed by the institution. Masturbators, who live alone outside of such a facility, usually keep their vice thoroughly secret, while the rest, who are constantly living in common, have their secret betrayed. If, therefore, they were to feel sexual desire one for one other, then there would hardly be any reason for shame or fear of it to repress it. Those who do not have enough moral fibre to overcome a vice such as self-abuse, will hardly tame themselves when they feel a desire for men. We had masturbators who were prevented from masturbating for 48 hours by means of a straitjacket and rings, and during this time were made to fast as well. At the moment of their being set free they were served a tasty meal. But what do you think happened? Instead of even touching the food, the first thing they did was to gratify their vice, and, indeed, in the company of others! Those who could do that, if they had any feeling for men, would hardly hesitate to devote themselves to this urge without reservation or embarrassment. Among the hundreds who found themselves there, all ages were represented, from about 18 on. There were rather more young ones there than old ones. As concerns the proportion of beauty or ugliness, they were no different than the average. There were ugly ones among them and handsome ones. For example, one who believed he was impotent as a result of masturbation [and who for that reason even attempted murder on the day of his projected marriage], was about 23 years of age and could truly be called handsome. Many were physically very strong. In the general sense they were more or less all healthy.

SOURCE: Douglas Ogilvy Pretsell, The Correspondence of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1846-1894.  Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.

*1869: An American studying medicine in Wurzburg (probably Dr. Hoffman, cited above), reports that he wished "to receive a blood transfusion" from Ulrichs "to be transformed into a uranian once for about two weeks" -- so that he could "study uranianism in himself during that time."

*1869: Ulrichs' books had reached New York, St. Louis, and other Amerian cities, he reports the above year.

*1869: This year Ulrichs reports the "attempted lynching of a uranian" by a mob in Chicago.

Bibliography

1980, Fall-Winter: Licata, Salvatore and Petersen, Robert P . [Ulrichs], Historical Perspectives on Homosexuality, Journal of Homosexuality, v. 6, n. 1-2, Fall-Winter, 1980, pp. 106–107.

1988: Hubert Kennedy, Ulrichs The Life and Works of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, Pioneer of the Modern Gay Movement (1988)

1989, April 25: Jonathan Ned Katz, "Katz on History," The Advocate, April 25, 1989, pages 47-48. Essay "The First Gay Revolutionary, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs: A Daring Pioneer of Sexual Emancipation."

1994: Karl Heinrich. Ulrichs, "The Riddle of Man-Manly Love." Translated by Michael Lombardi-Nash (1994)

2003, January 30: "It's Here, It's Queer, Start Drinking it," [wine named after Ulrichs] San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco, CA),  January 30, 2003, Page:46; GenealogyBank.com

2013, August 27: [Ulrichs], Licata, Salvatore and Petersen, Robert P., The Gay Past: A Collection of Historical Essays. Reprint of earlier work. Routledge (27 August 2013), pp. 106–107.

2020, June: Douglas Ogilvy Pretsell, The Correspondence of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1846-1894. Palgrave Macmillan, June 2020.

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Research Leads
In June 2020, Jonathan Ned Katz sent the above U.S. references to lists of LGBTQ+ historians and archivists.

He received this reply from Ralf Dose, Berlin, Germany.

Dear Jonathan,
[1] Here is a bit more about Dr. Julius Hoffmann: he is listed as a student of medicine in Würzburg in 1868:
https://books.google.de/books?id=pFxCAAAAcAAJ&hl=de&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false

[2] This is his dissertation:
Hoffmann. Julius T.: Ueber das Wesen der chronischen Krankheiten. [About the Nature of Chronic Diseases], lnaugurai-Abhandlung der medicinischen Facultät zu Würzburg vorgelegt und mit Genehmigung der Facultät dem Druck übergeben von Dr. med. Julius T. C. Hoffmann aus Chicago-Würzburg. F. E. Thein'sche Buckdruckerei. 1870. - 22 S. - Würzburg. Univ .. Diss .. 1870.

[3] And he may well be the physician listed in the Chicago City Directory of 1877 (attached), [there are more entries for him in Chicago between 1874 and 1878. The 1877 listings says: "Hoffmann Julius T. C. physician 268 North av. house 398 Larrabee."]

[4] He is mentioned in a letter by Abraham Lincoln, as can be seen here on p.315 https://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/lincoln7?rgn=main;view=fulltext

Lincoln to Gideon Welles [1]

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This feature's last edit: June 23, 2020.

This essay is adapted from Jonathan Ned Katz's column, "Katz on History," The Advocate, April 25, 1989, pages 47-48. The essay was titled "The First Gay Revolutionary, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs: A Daring Pioneer of Sexual Emancipation."