Stanford scholar explor the history of gay rights Germany | Stanford News

gay rights in east germany

LGBT Rights Saarland, Germany: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more.

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STANFORD SCHOLAR EXPLOR THE HISTORY OF GAY RIGHTS GERMANY

Germany’s far right AfD party oppos same-sex marriage, but s anti-immigratn platform holds appeal for some gay voters. * gay rights in east germany *

That stark cultural and polil change trigued Stanford rearcher Samuel Clow Huneke, a doctoral ndidate history, who began vtigatg how East and Wt Germany alt wh homosexualy om 1945 to 1990. “There is an assumptn that the state of gay rights Germany today is somethg that’s mostly due to events mocratic Wt Germany, which had a more vibrant gay culture and a more visible gay rights movement durg the 1970s, ” Huneke said.

While the Wt’s activism died down after 1980, when a group of pro-pedophilia activists dispted a major gay rights event Wt Germany’s pal Bonn durg that year’s feral electn, activists the East ntued to anize, Huneke said. From 1985 until the Berl Wall fell 1989, the East German ernment released a s of pro-gay policy chang, grantg gay people the right to serve the ary, among other eedoms, acrdg to his rearch.

“This history troubl our assumptns about gay liberatn and how mori fare unr certa forms of ernment, as well as our lgerg Cold War expectatns about munist and mocratic regim, ” Huneke said.

THE GAY MEN TURNG TO THE FAR RIGHT GERMANY

LGBT Rights Ban-Württemberg, Germany: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * gay rights in east germany *

Two surgeri later and fearful of beg attacked aga, the openly gay 52-year-old taxi driver – who don’t want to be intified bee of ncerns of another attack – avoids public spac and always tak pepper spray wh him. Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. 'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". Hirschfeld vented the term transvte, zealoly opposed Paragraph 175, and found the Scientific Humanarian Commtee Berl which pneered rearch to transsexualy and stood at the foreont of prott opposg legal discrimatn agast homosexuals.

The Third Reich’s persecutn of homosexuals was immediate and relentls: Natnal Socialists stormed and stroyed Hirschfeld’s Instute for Sexual Rearch Berl, Nazi newspapers lled for the ath penalty for homosexual acts and all active gay anisatns Germany were clared illegal. Acrdg to ttimoni om survivors, persecuted homosexuals were at the bottom of the ncentratn mp hierarchy, receivg particularly btal treatment and equently subjected to horrific medil experiments which ed an excs of male hormon to try and ‘cure’ mat’ homosexualy.

GAY RIGHTS IN GERMANY: MEN CONVICTED UNR NAZI-ERA LAW TO GET GOVERNMENT COMPENSATN

Wh celebratns of Gay Pri takg place across Germany this July, we look at the past and the future of rights for the LGBTQ+ muny Germany. * gay rights in east germany *

This is not to say that lbians lived enviable liv unr the Third Reich; there are rerds of some lbian ncentratn mp mat and the soc-cultural climate of the Third Reich would not have been an easy one for openly gay women. When the sculpture was created 1968, homosexuals did not fall to the ‘regnised’ persecuted groups meang they were left out of the sculpture which memorated the sufferg of persecuted mori.

Many homosexuals left ncentratn mps only to be seen as mon crimals upon their return to society; many were repeatedly jailed and died before seeg the liberatn of gays or acknowledgement of and pensatn for their sufferg at the hands of both the Natnal Socialists and the post-war German ernments. Contrary to mon assumptn, was the East German ernment who, spe the strict censorship, rife surveillance amongst cizens and the feared Stasi, were ostensibly more liberal when me to gay rights. The 2013 documentary film, ‘Out East Berl, ’ told the personal histori of 13 openly gay dividuals unr the GDR ernment and the film expos the ls rosy everyday realy for homosexuals East Germany.

The 2017 legalisatn of same-sex marriage Germany had a slightly bter unrtone as the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, voted agast the legalisatn a move nsistent wh her stance opposn of gay marriage.

GAY RIGHTS AROUND THE WORLD: THE BT AND WORST UNTRI FOR EQUALY

<p><strong>Eme Saner: </strong>Equal marriage laws are beg passed several untri, but Rsia, life grows harsher each month for LGBT people. Which plac are bt and worst for gay rights?</p> * gay rights in east germany *

Repeated vandalism of the ‘Memorial to Persecuted Homosexuals’ Berl, ongog difficulti terms of adoptn for gay upl and creas attacks agast gay upl Germany should all serve as a remr of the ntued threat to LGBTQ+ dividuals Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bet approved legislatn Wednday to reverse the nvictns of 50, 000 men sentenced for homosexualy unr a Nazi-era law that remaed tact several years after World War II.

The proposal, which still has to be approved by the German parliament to be enacted, would pensate those nvicted wh a lump sum of roughly $3200 and an addnal $1, 600 for every year the men “suffered a privatn of liberty” behd bars, Agence French Prse reported potential legislatn reprented a victory for German LGBT activists after a -long effort to exonerate the nam of gay men who were forced to live wh a crimal rerd unr Article 175 of the penal . Its fate pend on the German parliament, where Merkel’s right-left Christian Democratic Unn of Germany polil party enjoys a large Arab Twter Trend: 'I Love Gays' Promot LGBT Rights In Middle EastGermany’s Article 175 outlawed “sexual acts ntrary to nature…be between people of the male genr or between people and animals. A unified Germany fully repealed Article 175 newly proposed law would act along the same l as Bra’s “Turg Law” created this earlier year, which wiped clean the crimal rerds of thoands of Brish men nvicted of beg gay before the untry crimalized homosexualy 1967, the New York Tim reported.

The ftival stck me as an ial opportuny to promote homosexual human rights on an ternatnal sle, particularly wh the munist bloc where, spe sometim liberal laws, public discsn of lbian and gay rights and the formatn of pennt gay polil anisatns were strictly forbidn. Homosexualy was still totally illegal Albania, Yugoslavia, Rumania and the Soviet Unn; had been crimalised Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and East Germany (officially known as the German Democratic Republic).

DOCUMENTARY EXPLOR GAY AND LBIAN OPPRSN EAST GERMANY

LGBT Rights Germany: homosexualy, gay marriage, gay adoptn, servg the ary, sexual orientatn discrimatn protectn, changg legal genr, donatg blood, age of nsent, and more. * gay rights in east germany *

Wt Berlers vised gay bars the East and were ntact wh a number of gay members of the East German munist youth movement, the Free German Youth, who has recently e together to tablish an rmal, unrground circle, the Homosexual Intert Group Berl (HIB). I met two members of the Atralian legatn who were active the gay liberatn movement and who were also proment members of the Atralian Communist Party – probably the first Communist Party the world to endorse officially the newly-emergent lbian and gay liberatn movement.

It had specifilly refed to accept legat om gay anisatns, partly out of pla heterosexist prejudice and partly Stalist revenge: the Amerin lbian and gay rights movement had dared to cricise Cuba for s persecutn of homosexuals who were, at the time, beg sent to labour mps for ‘re-tn’. I later heard reports om other legat that at a subsequent mass rally East Berl the US Black Power activist and munist, Angela Davis, who was a member of the Amerin legatn, nounced the lbian and gay liberatn movement as divisive and diversnary om the ma stggle agast palism and imperialism (although I have never been able to nfirm this, so Davis should be given the benef of the doubt). I was outnumbered and suggted a promise: the Brish legatn should attach a statement to s official wreath namg all the dissint groups and mori, cludg homosexuals, who were victims of the Holot.

In the dience were supporters om the Brish legatn and a ntgent om Homosexual Actn Wt Berl who me over pecially for the event, as well as a very brave group of gay sympathisers om the East German HIB and Free German Youth.

OUT EAST BERL: LBIANS AND GAYS THE GDR: BERL REVIEW

So, after nearly an hour’s lay, I rumed my speech wh all language channels operatg; however, I was later to learn that, wh the exceptn of the Rsian channel, all the translatns were of poor qualy, omtg or distortg much of the ntent – the German translatn, for example, leted all referenc to the Brish Young Communist League havg adopted a policy supportg the stggle for lbian and gay rights which had ma one of a handful of left-wg anisatns the world to do so at this time. ’ I replied that offence was not tend and that surely my plard uld not be emed offensive when the East German ernment self had crimalised homosexualy 1968 (a year before Wt Germany) and had an official policy of tolerance towards lbians and gay men. The outraged homophob, who clud leadg members of the Natnal Unn of Stunts and the Communist Party, lunged at me, fists flyg and attempted to rip up the plard Supporters the Brish legatn formed a human shield around me allowg the plard to rema tact for a while longer.

At the end of a rowdy and timidatg 30 mute bate durg which my opponents shouted me down and circulated among the legat claimg (falsely) that the English translatn of my plard read ‘East Germany Persecut Homosexuals’, the vote went agast me by a slim majory on a reunt. This provoked an enraged charge by the leftist homophob; myself, and thirty sympathisers who gathered around me for protectn, were punched, kicked, spat on and battered over the heads wh banner pol. Stg on top of a high-rise block eight floors above Alexanr Platz on a balmy summer eveng, I was filled wh a mixture of fear and exhilaratn: fear at the thought of tentn by the East German thori and exhilaratn that we had jt staged the first lbian and gay rights monstratn East German history.

The events East Berl also beme a talyst for the subsequent formatn of unrground gay discsn circl the Soviet Unn and Poland; and East Germany self, they ntributed to the nsolidatn and formalisatn of the already nascent unrground lbian and gay rights anisatn, the HIB. The Socialist Workers’ Party announced s support for ‘socialist gay liberatn’ although s motiv were primarily opportunistic: was ncerned to try and explo the events East Berl to bash the ‘Stalist burecrats’ of the Soviet Bloc and the Brish Communist Party. In what is beg scribed as rollg the "stat of LGBT [lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr] people back to the Stal era", Print Put has passed a number of anti-gay laws, cludg legislatn that punish people and groups that distribute rmatn nsired "propaganda of non-tradnal sexual relatns".

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY RIGHTS IN EAST GERMANY

Out East Berl: Lbians and Gays the GDR: Berl Review – The Hollywood Reporter.

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