A History of LGBTQ People in Germany: The Experience in the GDR

Throughout the 20th century, LGBTQ rights were genuinely very poor by today’s standards. Socialist countries such as the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China were no exception to this. Though this was not out of the ordinary at the time, homosexuality was illegal in the USSR from 1934 until its dissolution in 1991 and was not legalized in China until 1997. [1][2] Despite the mostly disappointing history of LGBTQ rights under socialism in the 20th century, a country that was notably progressive for its time was East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic (GDR). This article will analyze the history of LGBTQ people in Germany, queer culture and liberation movements, and the state of LGBTQ people in the GDR.

Early German LGBTQ History

Eldorado Club gay bar in Berlin, 1930s

Many of our modern perceptions and studies of homosexuality emerged in Germany in the 19th century. The German lawyer, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, is thought by some to be the world’s first openly gay man and since 1864, began spreading pamphlets advocating for gay rights. Over time, he became more open in his advocacy, despite the persecution that came with it, but an anti-sodomy law was unfortunately imposed under unified Germany in 1871. Ulrichs would coin the term “Urning,” meaning “homosexual,” an alternative to the commonly used pejorative term “sodomite.” He would also introduce the terms “Urninden,” referring to women attracted to the same sex (lesbians), and “Uranodionism,” individuals attracted to men and women (bisexuals). After facing multiple arrests, Ulrichs would go into exile in Italy. [3] Though his history has become obscured, Ulrichs helped pave the way for future LGBTQ movements and studies.

Homosexuality also began being perceived as natural by some doctors at the time. The first to do this was Johann Ludwig Casper in the 1850s, who argued that same-sex attraction had an innate, biological basis. By 1900, this belief was held by a select group of German psychiatrists. [4] Queer communities began to form in Berlin by the late 19th century, though they were subject to some repression from the police. In 1896, the first gay magazine began publication, Der Eigene (“The Self-Owning”), and a year later, the physician Magnus Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, the first LGBTQ rights group in history. The group was welcoming to transgender and intersex people, of whom Hirschfeld took an in studying, and gave them protection from the police. While these identities had previously been viewed as a “fetish” or as “symptom of homosexuality,” Hirschfeld’s work differentiated gender identity from sexual orientation and proposed a biological foundation. [5][6]

Magnus Hirschfeld (in glasses) and his partner at a costume party at the Institute for Sexual Research

With the establishment of the Weimar Republic in 1918, queer culture continued to thrive in Berlin. Over a hundred gay bars and nightclubs existed for men and women and queer balls were fairly popular as well. Art and novels began to incorporate queer elements and magazines continued to be distributed. The Friendship Paper and Women Love were some gay and lesbian magazines created during the Weimar period. In 1930, Hans Hannah Berg, a transgender woman, published The Third Sex, perhaps the first magazine dedicated to trans issues. [7] This massive movement and activism reached the German legislative body, the Reichstag, in 1929. A vote to eliminate Paragraph 175 from the Weimar penal code, which criminalized homosexuality, managed to pass 15–13. [8] However, this elimination would never come into effect.

The Effects of Nazism

Nazis loot and destroy the Institute for Sexual Research, 1933

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, this vibrant queer culture was systematically rooted out. Gay and lesbian organizations were banned and crushed by force if necessary. The Nazi ideology saw homosexuality as “socially aberrant” and antithetical to their cult of tradition and idea of a “pure” German Reich. Many of the aforementioned magazines nearly disappeared into history during this time. Paragraph 175 was strengthened to include more romantic or sexual acts between men. Sexual acts between women officially remained legal but were still heavily looked down upon. Tens of thousands of gay men would be arrested in the following years. [9]

Something the Nazis also became known for was book burning. Most notably, Jewish and Communist books were burned, but also queer books. The most well-known instance of this came on May 6, 1933, in Bebelplatz Square, Berlin. Being a Jewish gay man, Magnus Hirschfeld had already fled the country, leaving behind his Institute for Sexual Research. This institute functioned as a clinic for trans women, providing surgery and hormone therapy, and a facility for LGBTQ research. The Nazis raided the building and brought all the books to the street along with works from other places. A bonfire of over 20,000 books burned that night, erasing decades of queer studies and history. [10]

Bebelplatz Square book burning, May 1933

Around 100,000 men were arrested under Nazi rule for violating Paragraph 175 and an estimated 50 percent were convicted. Between 5,000 and 15,000 of these men, many of whom identified as gay, were sent to concentration camps and were forced to wear Pink Triangles. They endured physical and sexual abuse, hard labor, castration, and even medical experimentation. [11] The Nazi practices of eugenics also affected LGBTQ people. Over 400,000 forced sterilizations were perpetrated by the Nazis, targeting Jewish people, disabled people, and gay and lesbian people among others. [12] There is little information on the experience of trans people in Nazi Germany, but Paragraph 183 of the Nazi penal code punished “cross-dressing” with up to one year in prison, so they might have had a similar experience to gay men. [13]

After Germany was liberated by the Soviet Union and the rest of the Allied Powers in 1945, Germany would be divided between the victors. West Germany would be occupied by the United States, Britain, and France and East Germany would be occupied by the USSR, with Berlin divided in a similar fashion. [14] In the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust, the Allies were left in control of a country completely dominated by fascism and needed to purge these influences and figures from society.

Red Army soldiers raise the Soviet flag over the Reichstag, May 1945

Post-WWII division of Germany

The process of denazification took place in both German occupation zones, featuring both societal change (removal of Nazi publications from libraries for instance) and legal consequences for former Nazis. The five categories for the accused were: major offenders (life imprisonment or death), activists and profiteers (up to ten years imprisonment), lesser offenders (up to three years probation), Nazi followers and supporters (surveillance and fine), and exonerated (no punishment). The major offenders made a small amount of the accused, consisting of high-ranking Nazi officials, such as Hermann Göring, and were tried for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the Nuremberg Trials. [15] To get an idea of the legal process, West Germany will be used as an example. Of the 836,000 tried, 37 percent were exonerated, 50.8 percent were classified as followers, 10.7 percent as lesser offenders, 2.1 percent as offenders, and only 0.1 percent as major offenders. [16] This means that the majority of the accused managed to walk away with a fine or no consequences. Simply put, denazification was a failure. Many former Nazis managed to retain office in Germany and over 1,600 Nazi scientists were even secretly recruited by the United States, now known as the infamous “Operation Paperclip.” [17]

In 1949, the capitalist Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) would be established in the west, and the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) would be established in the east, both of which would have to overcome this problem. A German government report detailed the existence of former Nazi Party members in the West and East German governments, though the issue was significantly worse in the West. The GDR made attempts to rid itself of Nazism, but it was still found that 14 percent of its Interior Ministry were former Nazis. In the FRG, however, 90 of the 170 lawyers and judges in the Justice Ministry from 1949 to 1973 had been Nazi Party members, 34 of which were members of the Sturmabteilung (SA) paramilitary who took part in Kristallnacht. In 1957, 77% of the Justice Ministry’s officials were former Nazis, an even higher percentage of party members than under Hitler’s government. Between 1949 and 1970, 54 percent of the FRG Interior Ministry were former Nazis, and 8 percent even served in the Nazi Interior Ministry led by Heinrich Himmler. Some of these former Nazis had taken part in the forced-sterilization programs and some even served in the Schutzstaffel (SS). [18]

Rudolf Hess, a leading member of the Nazi Party, at the Nuremberg Trials, 1946

Returning to the main topic, this prominence of Nazism in the West German government reflects itself in the country’s treatment of LGBTQ people. The Federal Republic of Germany upheld the strict anti-sodomy laws imposed by the Nazis and prosecuted over 100,000 gay men between 1949 and 1969, of whom 50,000 were convicted. This is around the same number of gay people prosecuted and convicted under the Nazis. [19] On the contrary, its eastern neighbor, the German Democratic Republic, showed to be quite progressive in terms of LGBTQ rights and experienced a revitalization of Germany’s queer culture.

LGBTQ People in East Germany

Flag of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany)

The German Democratic Republic was by no means a “paradise” for LGBTQ rights, but no country is. Queer liberation has a long way to go all over the world, but the GDR did show itself to be very ahead of its time. Following its establishment, the GDR adopted the more lenient anti-sodomy laws that were in place under the Weimar Republic. Around 4,000 men were still convicted under these laws but in 1957, the East Berlin Court of Appeal modified Paragraph 175 to abandon prosecution unless an infraction posed a serious risk to the socialist society. [20] [21] This effectively ended the legal punishment of same-sex relationships in East Germany. [19]

Rights for oppressed peoples are never granted out of benevolence, rather they have to be fought for. In the case of the GDR, its relative tolerance should be attributed to the organizing of queer East Germans. The Homosexual Interest Group Berlin (HIB), the first gay liberation group in Eastern Europe, was founded in 1973 by Michael Eggert, Peter Rausch, and Michael Keller. The group organized regular meetings, made films, lobbied authorities for gay and lesbian rights, and saw a socialist society as integral to queer liberation. The group was predominantly male in its leading activists, but lesbian activists Regine Steidten and Christiane Steefeld were also prominent members. The success of the HIB prompted the rise of similar groups in West Berlin. [22] Unfortunately, the group was forced to disband in 1978 after an intervention from the police. [20] In 1973, British gay activist Peter Tatchell wrote in support of LGBTQ activists in the GDR, saying:

“We have had several letters from gay people in the DDR (German abbreviation for GDR), some from very small towns, all show a remarkable understanding of gay liberation politics, and the beginnings of a historical materialist understanding of gay oppression.” [22]

Members of the HIB celebrate Christmas together, 1975

In 1964, the Volkskammer, the legislative body of the GDR, began to develop a new penal code and Paragraph 175 was suggested to be removed altogether. By 1968, the paragraph was removed, legalizing homosexuality in East Germany. This decision pressured the FRG to legalize homosexuality the following year in 1969. At this point in the GDR, however, the age of consent for homosexual relationships was higher than that of heterosexual ones, as addressed in the new Paragraph 151 (the first time lesbians were addressed by law as well). [21] It was in 1987 that legal equality would be ensured for homosexual relationships when the East German Supreme Court set the age of consent at 14 for all sexual relations. The presiding judge concluded that homosexuality was a natural variation of human sexuality and stated:

“Homosexual persons are thus not excluded from the socialist society and civil rights are guaranteed to them as to all other citizens. Their discrimination and moral devaluation is to be rejected accordingly and they are to be protected from all attacks on their integrity (e.g., through defamation, bodily injury, hooliganism) through civil as well as criminal proceedings.” [23]

Due to the prominence of German LGBTQ rights activists in the 1960s and 70s, most of the GDR’s societal and political acceptance came near its end in the 1980s. Gay people were allowed to serve in the military and queer people from the FRG often visited the East. [19] By 1987, the GDR had begun a campaign of tolerance and integration of gay people into the socialist society. This included newspaper articles, interviews with gay men and lesbians, televised discussions with medical experts, and other forms of media such as music and film. [24] One important queer film from the GDR was “Coming Out,” released in 1989. The film was directed by Heiner Carow and depicted many LGBTQ characters to a large audience, including a cameo and monologue from transgender activist Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. [25]

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf and other East German gay rights activists, 1970s

Once again, there is very limited information about the legal and societal status of transgender people in Germany at the time. Medical transitioning was still a relatively new practice, with genital sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and a definition of transsexuality being introduced to the German medical field in the 1970s. [26] While the GDR did not have any laws recognizing legal gender changes in trans people, the FRG did allow transgender Germans to change their legal name and gender under the 1980 Transsexual Law, however, under very strict circumstances. [27] An advantage the GDR had for trans people was that its healthcare system was free and fully nationalized. [28] While access to medical transitioning might have been limited, the process should have been state-funded like other medical procedures. The American transgender activist Lou Sullivan wrote about this and the effect German reunification could have on trans people in his FTM Newsletter:

“Now that East and West Germany are being united into one country, the laws concerning transsexuals and sex change operations are being re-evaluated. East Germany scores higher on transsexual rights than West Germany, but East Germany’s more humane laws may not prevail in the new reunited country. As it stands now in East Germany, men and women 18 years and older have been able to receive government-sponsored sex reassignment surgery, get married and adopt children. According to Professor Goerlich of East Germany, who spoke at a meeting on the subject in Hamburg, in two cases a transsexual mother gained custody of her adopted children after a divorce.” [29]

Conclusion

After German reunification in 1990 (though it was really more of an annexation of the East by the West), the GDR’s more tolerant policies were adopted throughout Germany. While not without its flaws, the German Democratic Republic provided an example of how LGBTQ people and socialism can and should coexist. Cuba, a current example, has shown major progress in this regard, taking steps to legalize gay marriage in the near future and providing state-funded hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery for trans people since 2008. [30] Communists today should recognize that socialism necessitates the liberation of all segments of the working class, including indigenous, Black, and LGBTQ liberation.

Sources:

1. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/soviet-legal-and-criminological-debates-on-the-decriminalization-of-homosexuality-196575/CF5911F02CA2D3F27389056F795C2ABD
2. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3114633/lgbtq-people-china-picture-mixed-global-report-finds
3. Beachy, Robert. Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity, Alfred A. Knopf, 2014, pp. 17–18, 28–29, 45.
4. Ibid., pp. 18.
5. Ibid., pp. 150–151.
6. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/26/berlin-story
7. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/01/15/a-lost-piece-of-trans-history/
8. Minzer, Abigail. Homosexuality During the Transition from Weimar Republic to Third Reich, Student Publications, 2020, pp. 5–6.
9. https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/gays-and-lesbians
10. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-forgotten-history-of-the-worlds-first-trans-clinic/
11. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gay-men-under-the-nazi-regime
12. Lowik, A. J. Reproducing Eugenics, Reproducing while Trans: The State Sterilization of Trans People, Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 2017, pp. 5–6.
13. https://www.dhm.de/blog/2019/07/23/whats-that-for-a-licence-to-be-different/
14. https://europe.unc.edu/the-end-of-wwii-and-the-division-of-europe/
15. https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/survival-and-legacy/postwar-trials-and-denazification/the-nuremberg-trial/
16. Herz, John H. The Fiasco of Denazification in Germany, The Academy of Political Science, 1948, pp. 577.
17. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/02/books/review/operation-paperclip-by-annie-jacobsen.html
18. https://www.businessinsider.com/former-nazi-officials-in-germany-post-world-war-ii-government-2016-10
19. https://news.stanford.edu/2018/12/29/east-germanys-lenient-laws-helped-unified-germany-become-gay-friendly/
20. https://bostonreview.net/articles/gay-liberation-behind-iron-curtain/
21. https://ecommerce.umass.edu/defa/sites/default/files/The%20Gay%20and%20Lesbian%20Movement%20in%20East%20Germany.pdf
22. McLellan, Josie. Glad to be Gay Behind the Wall: Gay and Lesbian Activism in 1970s East Germany, History Workshop Journal, 2012, pp. 105–115.
23. Hillhouse, Raelynn J. Out of the Closet behind the Wall: Sexual Politics and Social Change in the GDR, Slavic Review, 1990, pp. 588.
24. Sweet, Denis M. A Literature of “Truth”: Writing by Gay Men in East Germany, Studies in 20th Century Literature, 1998, pp. 205–206.
25. Lindgren, Rudy. Gay Voices in Coming Out: Diverse Representation as an Antidote to Homophobia in the GDR, Honors Projects, 2020, pp. 1–6.
26. Laurila, Katherine. Identity as Illness? Rethinking Transgender Suicide Risk and Healthcare in Germany, Boston College University Libraries, 2018, pp. 13–14.
27. Knott, Gregory A. Transsexual Law Unconstitutional: German Federal Constitutional Court Demands Reformation of Law Because of Fundamental Rights Conflict, Saint Louis University Law Journal, 2010, pp. 1004–1005, 1021.
28. https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/07/08/what-happened-when-east-germany-nationalised-its-pharmaceutical-industry/
29. Sullivan, Louis. Will German Reunification Hurt Transsexual Rights?, FTM Newsletter, June 1990.
30. https://www.coha.org/a-new-revolution-the-progression-of-lgbtq-rights-in-cuba/