author
Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
1825–1895
A 19th-century German lawyer and writer, he is remembered as one of the earliest public voices to argue that love between men was natural and should not be criminalized. His bold writing and speeches made him a foundational figure in the long history of gay rights.
1 Audiobook
Manor
by Karl Heinrich Ulrichs
About the author
Born in 1825 in what is now northern Germany, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs studied law and built a career as a lawyer, journalist, and writer. He later became known for a series of pamphlets in the 1860s that tried to explain same-sex desire in human terms rather than as a crime or moral failing.
Ulrichs is often described as a pioneer of both early sexology and the modern gay rights movement. One of the best-known moments of his life came in 1867, when he spoke before the Congress of German Jurists in Munich and called for an end to legal persecution of men who loved men.
He spent his later years in Italy and died in L'Aquila in 1895. Even though many of his ideas belonged to the language and science of his own century, his courage in speaking publicly and personally about homosexuality helped open a path for later generations.