Contents:
- GAY RIGHTS AND LGBTQI MOVEMENTS EUROPE
- EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
GAY RIGHTS AND LGBTQI MOVEMENTS EUROPE
Durg the neteenth century, the first gay liberatn thkers laid the groundwork for a ant movement that mand the end of the crimalizatn, pathologisatn and social rejectn of non-heterosexual sexualy. A first gay liberatn movement emerged Berl 1897, revolvg around the doctor Magn Hirschfeld (1868-1935), -founr of the Wissenschaftlich-humanäre Komee (WhK, Scientific-Humanarian Commtee).
The mtee took multiple actns: a petn favour of appealg § 175, the publitn of books and brochur on homosexualy, the publitn of a review (Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen, Yearbook for Intermediate Sexual Typ), and the circulatn of an tnal film on the damage ed by homophobia (Anrs als die anren, Different om Others, 1919). Other gay ant anizatns were created after a spl wh the WhK, such as the Communy of the Special (Gemeschaft r Eigenen), found by the German Adolf Brand (1874-1945) who advoted naturism among other thgs. Although their relatns were not illegal, some of them exprsed their wish to be members of ant anizatns that would give them visibily wh the first homosexual movement.
Vlent Nazi reprsn ed the dissolutn of the League 1933 and the exile of s members, which was the unrlyg e of the end of the first gay rights movement and the portatn of homosexuals wartime Europe. Dpe the reigng nservatism of the post-war perd, “clubs” discreetly formed to promote homosexual sociabily through readgs, nferenc, excursns, and even masked balls.
EASTERN EUROPE WAS ONCE A WORLD LEAR ON GAY RIGHTS. THEN RAN OUT OF SPEGOATS
The 1980s were marked by the adoptn of the rabow flag, the LGBT acronym, the profsnalizatn of gay and lbian ancy, and the prence of openly homosexual ndidat durg electns. For stance, France, Mrice Cherdo ran unsuccsfully the 1981 legislative electn as the ndidate for the Collectif homosexuel l’Out parisien [Gay Collective of Wtern Paris], while Germany Albert Eckert (born 1960) beme the ngrsman for the Alternative slate 1989. Outsi of the European Communy, mands are not as loud or are even supprsed, as monstrated by the measur forbiddg “homosexual propaganda” Rsia sce 2013, or the persecutn of homosexuals Chechnya, which was nounced 2017 by a number of European chancelleri.
Male homosexual relatnships were ual Ancient civilisatns until the adoptn of Christianism by the Roman Empire and the Christian terpretatn of marriage beme stutnalised. What was strikg there was not the fact that homosexual terurse uld be punished by ath, but the fact that the provisns had not been relaxed durg the 18th century. In the g years, attempts to lete om German legislatn failed, and they even backfired as plans were troduced to outlaw female homosexual acts as well, but World War I halted them.
Wh weeks of achievg the ernment, the Nazi Party started s purge of gay clubs Berl, banned homosexual publitns, and forba gay groups; this crackdown led up to the Instut’s dissolutn, and the German LGBT muny would not be exempt om the horrors of the Third Reich. Notwhstandg the facts, Poland lets homosexual mal donate blood, which is somethg still forbidn several Wtern untri, and n take pri beg the only European untry where homosexualy has never been illegal. While Rsia lets trans persons change their documents after unrgog reassignment surgery, feral law explicly prohibs so-lled gay propaganda, actually makg nearly impossible for LGBT dividuals to live openly and to discs all matters related to their sexual orientatns or genr inti.