1940

Carson McCullers' The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Barney Frank, American politician is born March 31 st.

Author Edmund White “A Boy's Own Story” was born.
1941

Pearl Harbor.

Carson McCullers publishes Reflections in a Golden Eye.

Virginia Woolf dies.

"Blithe Spirit" plays on Broadway.

Susanna York was born. She performed the first sexually explicit lesbian love scene in a mainstream movie, The Killing of Sister George.
1944

Lillian Smith's novel, Strange Fruit.

Judy Garland stars in "Meet Me in St. Louis".

Sweden repeals anti-homosexual laws, decriminalizes homosexuality.

Aaron Copland's ballet "Appalachian Spring" premiers.

Elane Noble was born. She became the first openly gay person elected to public office at the state level. (the Massechusetts House). She want on to become the founder of the Pride institute, the first gay and lesbian chemical dependency treatment center.
1945

Upon the liberation of concentration camps by Allied forces, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out the full term of their sentences under Paragraph 175.

Atomic bombs dropped on Japan.

Carousel opens on Broadway.

Laurence Olivier directs and stars in "Henry V".

Author Toby Marotta “The Politics of Homosexuality” was born.
1946

"George Hyde, a youth minister in the independent Catholic Movement, forms a church in Atlanta which is thought to have been the first American church organized primarily for homosexuals."

Culture and Recreation Center (COC) formed in Netherlands - "COC" (Dutch acronym for "Center for Culture and Recreation"), the earliest homophile organisation, is founded in the Netherlands. It is the oldest surviving LGBT organization.

Steve Schulte was born.
1947

Publication of first lesbian magazine, Vice Versa , by Lisa Ben. (Edythe Eyde)

Marshall Plan begins.

Andrew Gide awarded Pulitzer Prize for literature.
1948

"Forbundet af 1948" ("League of 1948"), a homophile group, is formed in Denmark.

Alfred Kinsey published Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male which quoted figures that 4% of men identified themselves as exclusively homosexual, and 37% of men had enjoyed homosexual activities at least once.

The Danish Lesbian and Gay group. the LBL, was formed by Axel Axgil , amongst others.

Gore Vidal's City and the Pillar published.

Hollywood Ten and the Blacklist.

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Capote is published to rave reviews.

John Mitzel, the founder of Fag Rag, sexual historian and erotic writer, was born.
1949

Publication of Yukio Mishma's Confessions of a Mask.

Cartoonist Donelan was born.

Burton Clarke, a noted black gay artist, cartoonist and illustrator, was born. His most noted piece brings honor to the organization, Black and White Men Together, a group that bridged racial.