Individual rights are synonymous with the American Revolution. While many of the debates that built up to the revolution centered around taxes, a little-known legal controversy from the era suggests that the crown and colonists also differed when it came to LGBTQ+ rights.
Serving with the 18th Regiment of Foot in Philadelphia, the British army chaplain Robert Newburgh was accused of having had sexual relations with a man – or as it was known at the time, buggery. Viewing his standing within the regiment as undermined, Newburgh sought recourse in a variety of court cases culminating with a court martial in 1774 – the year before the revolution.
