I felt I had to share a Facebook post comment I've just read. It's a fascinating historical point about a German lawyer in the 19th century who came out publicly as homosexual. The term wasn't in common usage. Of course, he suffered the usual abuse and his work was confiscated but in 1998 he had a square named after him in Germany (Munich) which is a nice touch and it feels as though justice has been done. He's finally been recognised for his bravery and championing human rights.
To put it into context this happened during Karl Marx's lifetime although Marx was living in London at the time but he was an international figure.
The post reads:
"In 1867, a German lawyer stood in front of 500 colleagues at a legal congress and came out as homosexual. The word "homosexual" had not yet entered common use.
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs was 42, a respected jurist, and what he was doing had no precedent. He called for the repeal of the anti-sodomy laws then on the books across the German states. Then he told the room, by way of explaining why, that he was speaking for himself.
They shouted him down. He was forced off the stage before he finished his speech.
Between 1864 and 1879 he wrote a twelve-volume series of pamphlets arguing that what he called "Urning" love was natural, innate, and deserving of legal protection.
He was repeatedly arrested and his works seized. In 1998, Munich named a public square after him."¹
¹Quoted from: Gay Buzzer Facebook post, 20th May 2026 on Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, available at:
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