Would you be willing to risk your job to stand up for the rights that you believe in?
For postal worker Henry Gerber, the answer to that question was a resounding yes.
And so On this day in Labor History, the year was 2001.
That was the day Gerber’s home was designated as a Chicago Landmark in recognition of his early leadership in the fight for homosexual rights.
Henry was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1892.
He immigrated to the United States in 1913 making his home in Chicago.
He served in the US Army in Germany for three years during World War I.
While in Germany he was impressed with the push for homosexual-rights taking place in that country after the war.
Returning to Chicago, Henry went to work as a postal worker.
He also founded the Society for Human Rights.
It is considered the first formal homosexual-rights organization in the United States.
The organization distributed a publication “Friendship and Freedom.”
Yet due to repression, only two issues were ever produced.
The publication’s outspoken stance on homosexual rights led the police to arrest Henry and the other founders of the society.
The police confiscated his papers as evidence.
The men stayed in jail for three days.
Gerber would face three separate trials relating to his work for homosexual rights.
Although he was never convicted, his defense drained his finances.
Then he lost his job for alleged “conduct unbecoming a postal worker.”
The Society was effectively crushed.
Gerber rejoined the Army, working as an editor and proofreader for Army publications for nearly two decades.
It was not until 1998 that President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 13087.
That order extended protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation to US Postal Service workers.
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Labor History in 2:00 brought to you by the Illinois Labor History Society and The Rick Smith Show