You are right about the mis-statement. However, thinking about it, the liberation movement actually started in England in the eighteen hundreds and Hirschfeld in Germany at the turn of the century. How about "Starting in the eighteen hundreds in western Europe same-sex love culture began to emerge from the shadows. The trend towards increased visibility, acceptance, and civil rights for lesbian, gay and bisexual people accelerated in the second half of the twentieth century and continues today."?
Yes, we can defend the statement with the Greeks and the Japanese. Maybe we can have a collaboration on an article, Historical praise of homosexuality?