and countries in continental Europe including France, Portugal and Germany. Two of these men were brothers and known hustlers Paul and Tom Ferguson, who, according to a 1997 issue of The Advocate which described Novarros death as 'one of the most sensational gay. While many of the images' origins are unknown, they are believed to be from the U.S. While there were pockets of acceptance - the raucous, sexually liberal nightclubs of early 1930s Berlin became the inspiration for the hit musical Cabaret - many were wiped out by the rise of fascism in Europe or social conservatism elsewhere.Īll of the photos collected by Mr Lifshitz predate what he called the Stonewall Era, when the Stonewall riots in 1969 New York triggered a global movement towards acceptance, and the end of an era of 'shame and seclusion'. Homosexuality remained illegal in Britain until 1967, and was only declassified as a mental illness in the U.S. Gay couples had plenty of reasons to be discreet in the early 1900s. They, therefore, had to run the risk of exposing themselves socially.' 'Because to obtain these images, they had to have gone to a small neighborhood photo lab to develop the film and then go back to pick up the prints. Homosexuality remained illegal in Britain until 1967, and was only declassified as an illness in the U.S. Span: The photos span from around 1900 to around 1960.
