Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
(28 August 1825 – 14 July 1895)
a German lawyer, jurist, journalist, and writer who is regarded today as a pioneer of sexology and the modern gay rights movement.
Ulrichs has been described as the "first gay man in world history."
1866
1867
He was briefly imprisoned for opposing Prussian rule
He addressed the Association of German Jurist on the need to reform German laws against homosexuality.
August 29, 1867
Ulrichs became the first homosexual to speak out publicly in defense of homosexuality when he pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a resolution urging the repeal of anti-homosexual laws.
1868
The Austrian writer Karl-Mari Kertbeny coined the word "homosexual" in a letter to Ulrichs.
1867
He began publishing his books under his own name as an 'urning' apologist for the cause (possibly the first instance of a sexually modern "coming out").
1870's
The subject of sexual orientation (as we would now say) began to be widely discussed.