Before Nazism, a German stute cemented self as gay liberatn’s epicenter. For 40 years, activists have been searchg for s legendary llectn.
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100 YEARS AGO, GERMANY’S ‘ESTE OF SEX’ BEGAN THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
History & CultureBefore Nazism, a German stute cemented self as gay liberatn’s epicenter. In , he oversaw the first morn genr nfirmatn surgeri, nducted large-sle studi on homosexualy, and lobbied the ernment for LGBTQ rights. But more often, is left to satiable rearchers like Dose, followg a trail of microspic ’s no shortage of memorable moments this le of tective work, says Dose, an affable 72-year-old wh a shock of whe hair who has dited his life to unearthg the roots of the gay liberatn movement: There was the meetg wh the refed elrly dghter of a physician who worked wh Hirschfeld, who, after ffee and ke, prented Dose wh a box of antique Japane sex toys.
” There was the fortuo meetg wh the stute’s hoekeeper, who scribed her tenure as the happit time of her life, and regaled them wh tal of gettg a massive Indonian stone phall statue through German 1897, Hirschfeld helped found the Scientific Humanarian Commtee, partially outraged rponse to the trial of thor Osr Wil, two years earlier England, on 25 charg of “gross cency” related to his homosexual relatnships. In the years after World War I, the relatively progrsive Weimar Republic laid a foundatn for Berl’s liberated gay scene, replete wh r barets, high-level advot, and creased eedom.
Wh a public persona tied to gay rights and his Jewish herage, Hirschfeld uldn’t go home.