1714 – Sodomy laws in place in the early colonies and in the colonial militia. These laws remained in place until they were challenged in 1925. Most sodomy laws were punishable with death, but states began to remove capital punishment from sodomy laws in the early 19th century.

1775 – Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin Louis Freiherr von Steuben, also referred to as Baron von Steuben, was a Prussian-born army officer who joined the American revolutionary war effort and was appointed by General George Washington as temporary Inspector General of the U. S. Continental Army. As a result of his exceptional work, Congress formalized his appointment to that position on Washington’s recommendation with the rank of Major General and Washington made him his chief of staff through the remainder of the war. He is considered one of the most significant figures of the revolutionary war. Evidence supports the conclusion of some historians that von Steuben was gay and had longtime male companions. He never married and adopted two of his male companions to enable them to inherit part of his estate upon his death.

1778 – Lieutenant Gotthold Frederick Enslin of the Continental Army becomes the first documented service member to be dismissed from the U.S. military for homosexuality. Read more at U.S. History Naval Institute Blog / Timeline of Military Gay History.

1789 – Olauda Equiano, a formerly enslaved person, publishes the narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. It was one of the first widely read narratives of slave life at the time. In it, he describes same-sex relationships he had with other men and the existence of same-sex relationships within the slave culture since slaves were not allowed to marry.