Being gay during the colonial era was a very strange thing. It was very strongly opposed in many areas, but in others it was accepted with open arms. The death penalty was something that was common during this time period. The reason for this was because of how strongly religious everyone in that time was. The bible told them that anyone who committed sodomy should be put to death, and as homosexuality is often included within that category, it seemed to them like a logical thing to do. "Eventually, of course, the tradition of making sodomy a capital offense came to an end," a journal on the subject of the death penalty in the colonies stated. Beginning in Pennsylvania but soon traveling to the other states too, the government began to limit the punishment for homosexuality. It was no longer warranting the death penalty; however, that didn't mean the punishments were no longer severe. The same journal noted that punishments included "the forfeit of all his lands and goods and servitude for a term "not exceeding ten years"." This is proof that while the situations were not as bad, they weren't perfect either, or even good.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were certain areas that showed that homosexuality could still be somewhat accepted in the past. People who had come to America to reject the restrictions of English religion suddenly felt trapped by Puritanism and decided to reject it altogether. One group of people, many of whom were homosexuals, left the main areas and founded a town on the principles of religious and other types of freedom. "They freed any indentured servants who joined them, befriended the local Native American tribe and began to intermarry with them, suggesting many of their members were heterosexuals sick of Puritan strictures and open to other ways," commented one article. Another thing that showed that LGBT people were not uncommon back then were the groups of women who would dress as men to be allowed to fight in the war. Some of these women were known to be in relationships with other women while dressed as men, and because of the risk, many were not discovered until they were dead or wounded. These show that sexual variation did exist in the past, but unfortunately, the LGBT rights movement did not really pick up speed until the 1900s.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there were certain areas that showed that homosexuality could still be somewhat accepted in the past. People who had come to America to reject the restrictions of English religion suddenly felt trapped by Puritanism and decided to reject it altogether. One group of people, many of whom were homosexuals, left the main areas and founded a town on the principles of religious and other types of freedom. "They freed any indentured servants who joined them, befriended the local Native American tribe and began to intermarry with them, suggesting many of their members were heterosexuals sick of Puritan strictures and open to other ways," commented one article. Another thing that showed that LGBT people were not uncommon back then were the groups of women who would dress as men to be allowed to fight in the war. Some of these women were known to be in relationships with other women while dressed as men, and because of the risk, many were not discovered until they were dead or wounded. These show that sexual variation did exist in the past, but unfortunately, the LGBT rights movement did not really pick up speed until the 1900s.