![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/featured-images-10.jpg\")
Mother Clap\u2019s 18th Century Gay Club<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Potentially the first ever example of Gay men using \u201cmother\u201d to describe a woman they love (I have no historical evidence to back this up), Mother Clap ran one of most famous \u201cmolly clubs\u201d in London, in the 18th century. Molly houses were meeting points for LGBTQIA+ people. Gay men in particular could make connections in a relatively safe environment, though homosexuality was still very illegal. They were usually coffeehouses, inns or taverns. Margaret Clap, affectionately known to her patrons as \u201cMother Clap\u201d is suspected to have hosted her molly house in her own private residence as she left to collect drinks for her guests, and reportedly had \u201cbeds in every room of the house\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1726, her premises were raided with more than 40 occupants arrested. Mother Clap was found guilty as charged, forced to stand in the pillory, pay 20 marks and serve two years in prison. Little is known of this important ally after that point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lesbian Love Mags of the Weimar Republic (And Gay Ones Too)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Prior to the Homophobic policies implemented by the Nazi regime, Berlin was famous for its colourful LGBTQIA+ scene. This was a groundbreaking time for research into gender and sexuality, spearheaded by Gay Jewish sexologist Magnus Hirschfield, later exiled from Germany under the Nazis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One group that really made the most out of the relatively lax censorship laws were Lesbian journalists and writers. Other Gay journals such as Der Eigene<\/em> and Die Freundschaft<\/em> had already paved the way for homosexual publishing, but mostly focused on Gay male issues (surprise!). In 1924, Der Freundin<\/em> became the world\u2019s first Lesbian magazine, publishing short stories and personal ads for meeting other Lesbians at bars. Frauenliebe<\/em> and Die BIF<\/em> followed. This was one of the first examples of Lesbianism stepping out of the shadows and into the relative mainstream. The early 20th century in Berlin was also a thriving time for Lesbian fiction, such as Der Skorpion<\/em>, in which an upper-class girl starts a heady affair with a woman ten years older. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tragically, much of the incredible writing of the early German LGBTQIA+ movement was lost, destroyed or burned as a result of new censorship laws introduced at the end of the 1920s, and the Nazis\u2019 rise to power. An estimated 12,000 – 20,000 books at Magnus Hirschfield\u2019s groundbreaking Institute for Sexual Science were burned by the Nazis in 1933.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throwing Coffee And Donuts At The Cops<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though details and evidence are shaky, reports of an uprising in Los Angeles 1959 in which queer people reportedly threw coffee, donuts, coffee cups and trash at police officers in protest over targeted arrests remains a valuable part of the Gay liberation story. Supposedly, at a time when queer people were accepted in very few public spaces, a donut store welcomed them in. When two police officers entered and attempted to make arrests one night, they were pelted with pastries by the angry, caffeinated mob, fleeing the scene. They later reportedly returned, blocking off the street and beating and arresting several people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Years later, coffee was again thrown at cops during the 1966 Compton\u2019s Cafeteria Riot. Following frequent police harassment and discrimination from the owners of a cafe in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, a group of mostly Trans sex workers and drag queens fought back by throwing drinks, sugar shakers, plates and tables at officers attempting to make arrests, while hitting them with stilettos and handbags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Annual Reminders and Homophiles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before Stonewall, the \u2018Homophile movement\u2019 saw early Gay liberation groups fearlessly fight for freedom during the hostile environment of the 1950s and 60s. Although many started as low-key, semi-secret societies set-up for mutual support and understanding, the civil uprising of the 1960s gave way to increased visibility as the groups participated in public demonstrations. In this 1957 edition of The Ladder<\/em> distributed by the Daughters of Bilitis group, women are encouraged to take off their masks. In retrospect this feels slightly ironic \u2013 the group also advocated for assimilation and discouraged masculine clothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-17.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Lesbiche_-_1928_-_D-_Die_freundin_1928-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Die-Freundin_1929_Nr.01_8S.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Die_Freundin_April_30_1930.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/featured-images-9.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Untitled-design-16.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d1wrk42pj731ls.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2024\/06\/featured-images-11.jpg\")