LGBTQ culture in Paris

[1] Paris' reputation as a center for queer life dates back as far as the Middle Ages, according to Michael D. Sibalis, who notes a twelfth-century poet's description of the city as full of "the vice of Sodom".

Historian Maurice Lever notes that by the eighteenth century, various subcultures had developed into a "homosexual world" in Paris, "with its own language, rules, codes, rivalries and clans."

[4] French diplomat and spy Chevalier d'Éon appeared publicly as a man for 49 years, while successfully infiltrating the court of Empress Elizabeth of Russia by presenting as a woman.

The character of Chevalier d'Éon is popularized in Europe by the song Sans contrefaçon by French rockstar Mylène Farmer, referring also to the popular gay-icon Eva Kotchever, whose nickname was Queen of the 3rd sex,[5] dressed as a man in New York at Eve's Hangout and in Paris at Le Dôme Café before World War II and was assassinated at Auschwitz;[6][7] The French Revolution decriminalized sodomy in 1791 and as a result increasingly robust queer cultures began to emerge in Paris in the late 18th and 19th centuries.

A network of still relatively underground venues for LGBT people emerged, including, salons, bars, cafes and bathhouses, particularly in the Montmartre and Les Halles.

Private salons in the early 20th century, like the ones hosted by the American expatriates Nathalie Barney, and Gertrude Stein drew LGBT and heterosexual artists and writers of the era, including Romaine Brooks, Renée Vivien, Colette, Djuna Barnes, André Gide, Pierre Louÿs, Truman Capote, and Radclyffe Hall.

One of Barney's lovers, the courtesan Liane de Pougy, published a best-selling novel based on their romance called l’Idylle Saphique (1901).

Some, like the writer Colette and her lover Mathilde de Morny, performed lesbian theatrical scenes in Paris cabarets that drew outrage and censorship.

[8][9] Toulouse Lautrec portrayed Parisian lesbian and bisexual entertainers in many of his paintings, such as dancers Louise Weber, Jane Avril and May Milton, and the clown Cha-U-Kao[10] [11][12] Tamagne stated that beginning in the 19th century Paris became known as a centre for LGBT culture.

Oscar Wilde spent his last years in a hotel in Paris, where he befriended French author André Gide, who wrote openly about his own homosexuality.

[17] Gay nightlife and drag balls flourished during the jazz age of the 1920s, with Le Monocle being a popular spot for women in tuxedos and Clair de Lune, Chez Ma Cousine, La Petite Chaumiere, and other clubs drawing men in male and female attire.

[19] During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, the French government raised the age of sexual consent from 13 to 15 for heterosexuals, and to 21 for homosexuals.

[23] Foreign LGBT artists and writers continued to seek the relative tolerance of France's capital city; James Baldwin's 1956 novel about homosexuality, Giovanni's Room, was based on time he had spent in Paris.

Historian Julian Jackson defined the creation of this group as the "Stonewall" of French LGBT history, when activists developed a view of the world "In opposition to what had gone on before.

"[31] Some lesbians, including author Monique Wittig, eventually broke away from Le Front to form Les Gouines Rouges, the Red Dykes.

[40] Frommer's described Les Mots à la Bouche in the 4th arrondissement, which carries materials in French and English, as "Paris's largest, best-stocked gay bookstore".

[1] In October 1966 Coutrot, a socialist counselor, criticized LGBT persons for being open with their sexuality, stating that this was "shocking" the "honest citizens" and damaging Paris's international image, "notably regarding the tourists.

"[27] In May of the following year Edouard Frédéric-Dupont, a conservative councillor, requested that the police increase levels of surveillance in an area bounded by boulevard Raspail and Saint-Germain-de-Pres square.