In the immense social upheaval following World War I, Berlin emerged as the global hub for gay life and gay art. In 1921, Berlin was home to 40 documented meeting places for gay people. By 1925, that number had jumped to 80.
Chief among these hotspots was the cabaret Eldorado, whose drag pageants and performances were immortalized by the likes of artists such as Otto Dix. In 2023, Netflix released a documentary about the club, Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate.
At the center of the movement for gay rights was Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld and his Institut für Sexualwissenschaft.
In 1896 Hirschfeld was operating as a regular physician, when he received a note from a soldier who was engaged to be married. The soldier was suicidally depressed because he could not get over his attraction to men, and was desperate to be cured of it. Being gay himself, Hirschfeld related tremendously to the soldier, and was spurred begin studying homosexuality in a scientific manner.
He was led to the conclusion that homosexuality was a natural occurrence that happened the world over. More importantly, he argued that homosexuality was not immoral and that homosexuals should be free to live and love as they pleased.
Hirschfeld was also the first scientist to recognize and study what we'd call transgenderism today, and was the person who coined the term "transvestite."
(Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, 2nd from right)
Das Institut acted as both a medical clinic and a center of education. Members of the public could come and be informed on the mechanics of how sex worked as well as receiving non-judgemental medical care for STIs and other sexual conditions. Women could receive information about safe abortion. It was also one of the first places where trans people could come and receive hormone treatment and information about gender-reassignment surgery.
Then, in 1933, with the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor, everything changed.
Queer lives were officially deemed not worth living, and public queer places became the chief target of Nazi persecution. The voluminous libraries of Das Institut were raided and then burned, destroying so much early queer history and science that was irreplaceable.
Dr. Hirschfeld managed to escape Germany and died in France in 1935. Queer people who were not lucky enough to leave to the country were arrested and sent to die in concentration camps.
The lessons of Weimar Berlin are painfully pertinent today. Progress can be destroyed faster than it gets made. Rights are not guaranteed and must always be fought for. The past cannot be allowed to happen again.
By which I mean, for the love of all that is holy, if you want to continue to have any rights at all, Please-Please-Please vote for Joe Biden on November 5th. Don't not vote in protest. Don't vote 3rd party. If Donald Trump is re-elected this WILL happen again. Just imagine your favorite local queer hang-out being shut down with "Make America Great Again" signs in the window, and vote to stop it.
(Emphasis mine.)
Nice, at first I was all "they must be reposting an old article because the words 'gay' and 'homosexual' were not revised to say 'queer'" but then you went ahead and did it anyway. I guarantee you they didn't burn any documents about people like we have today in the Queer subculture. It wasn't a thing. Also, transvestites are not the same as trans or drag.
ReplyDeleteNit-picking. You're missing the main point of the post.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure the first photo isn't Paris?
ReplyDeleteTaurus - Thank you!
ReplyDeleteStache - I really don't know. I noticed that Mark left out that image. All the other postings of this contained it.
It is not only important to vote for Joe Biden but to vote Democrat across all positions. We must keep the repubs out. They will not only ruin your life but also your city, your state, your country and the world.
ReplyDeleteDie Geschichte wiederholt sicht, zuerst der Haas auf das Andere, das Verbrennen von Büchern und Eigentum und dann das Verbrennen und Töten Menschen.
ReplyDeleteDie Konservativen in Deutschland dachten, sie könnten Hitler kontrollieren, genauso wie die Konservativen in Amerika glauben, sie könnten Trump kontrollieren. :(
(vvs)
Photo 1 - c'est un bal gay dans le Marais à Paris :)
ReplyDeleteLes conservateurs et les nationalistes recommencent avec leurs misérables allégations de griefs fabriqués de toutes pièces en America et en Europe.
-Beau Mec à Deauville
Life in Berlin at that time is how we got Christopher Isherwood's "Goodbye to Berlin" which got us the play "I Am a Camera" which became the musical "Cabaret."
ReplyDeleteYessireebob --- our rights can be stripped away in an instant. And will be if we aren't careful and steadfast.
I saw it in Netflix, nice
ReplyDeleteAnon@2:19pm - It's so sad to see this happening again.
ReplyDeleteAnon@2:49pm - It's happening on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jerry - Absolutely!
ReplyDeletePat - Thank you for that wonderful trivia!
ReplyDeleteWell said! I agree completely…a vote for anyone other than Joe Biden is a vote *for* Dastardly Donny.
ReplyDeleteand let's hope everyone will go to vote!
ReplyDeleteThe weekend protests in Germany against their far-right wing give one a teeny ray of hope for humanity.
ReplyDeleteThe facts remain!!! If many "family people" don't like the recent book bans orchestrated by parents, it can easily expand to include other aspects of our daily lives THEY don't like. Which can include anything that is not "white" and "hetero". Plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteWe already know that Trump considers white supremacists (another nicer word for "Nazi") are "nice people". which should be remembered. We heard him say the LGBTQ+ people were important to him, but then did little to maintain or expand existing protections of that group of citizens.
Then there are the Log Cabin Republicans who seem to be in constant denial of the future consequences of voting "conservative". It's one thing to be "conservative", another to vote for a party that doesn't want them! There are conservative Democrats, contrary to popularized beliefs!!! In current times it goes much farther than just being "conservative" about federal spending!!!
There are MANY issues in the modern world for us to conquer, without distractions from "conservative values" degrading and eliminating the many social advances we have made over the past 200 years. Yet such distractions can continue to harm our country by the simple act of not voting for Democrats this time and into the future! Not voting for Biden is a vote for the continued distractions of Trump and his cult. As they work to make things as THEY perceive is desired by the country (as they got elected, afterall!). Everybody VOTE BLUE no matter what it takes to make it happen! MAKE YOUR PLANS NOW, even scheduling a vacation day if needed.
Cdadbr - You always make such good points!
ReplyDeleteAll of this is so true — but we all should commit to do more than just vote. We need to get out the vote in the states that matter. Knock on doors, do phone banks, give money — many people who would vote blue are apathetic about this election because they don’t like Joe Biden. (I think he’s actually done a great job, but I get the age objection.) We must convince them that they have to vote anyway to avoid the calamity that would come if Trump is returned to office.
ReplyDeleteUnd die Republikanern haben auch dedacht das sie den Trump kontrollieren konten. Wir mußen Mitch McConnel fragen wie es gelungen ist.
ReplyDeleteLeftField - I have wondered that, too.
ReplyDelete