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History of a paragraph
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 04:01 pmI had a very nice discussion with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lordhellebore yesterday, which also skimmed the history of the criminalisation of homosexuality in Germany and made me write this entry.
I was going to take time and read my friends list properly for the first time in months again on the weekend. There are several comments which I haven't answered to yet.
The §175 used to be the paragraph criminalising sex between men. ( §175 )
Considering when neirbouring countries abolished the laws, it's depressing that it took so long in Germany. Homosexuality was decriminalised in England in 1967, in Scotland in 1980, and in Northern Ireland in 1982. The laws criminalising homosexuality in Germany were not abolished until 1994.
Nineteen-nintey-four. A little more than over fourteen years ago. While some of the people on my friends list were having their first romantic encounters at school or their first relationships, there were men in Germany who were fined or imprisoned for having sex.
The earliest version of §175 was introduced in the Weimarer Republic in 1871. In the relatively liberal Weimarer Republic, which had a flurishing gay and lesbian subculture, there were several petition and even movies asking for the removal of the paragraph. Psychologists and gay rights activists both sought to abolish the criminalisation, but were unsucessful as the political climate changed in the thirties.
It was made more severe in 1935 - instead of six months in jail for homosexual acts between men, the limit was raised to no less than three months and no more than ten years. The law applied to men who had sex with men under twenty-one, cases of sexual exploitation at the work-place or in a position of dependance (sorry if my legal speech is very wrong, Bron), and male prostution. Later, it even physical contact was no longer necessary to warrant a conviction, as they were also after punishing voyeurs and men masturbating in the same room.
During this period, the numbers of prosecuations and convictions soared, and I don't think I have to elaborate on the fate which met gay men in concentration camps.
As more and more men were convicted or investigated, even the mere suspicion of homosexual activity was enough to warrant an arrest and an investigation - usually in that order ("protective custody"). Half of the cases which were brought to the attention of the authorities were reported by neighbours and colleagues, paranoia soared.
After 1945, western Germany kept the paragraph as it was as it was not believed to contain Nazi ideology. Men who had been imprisoned in concentration camps by the Nazis were transferred to prisons while those who had been prosecuted for religious and other reasons were freed.
Between 1965 and 1969 the law was amended and the probably most ludicrous version introduced. ( Here it is. )
Men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one who had sex with men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one could be sentenced to up to five years in jail. The law also applied to male prostitutes for males and sexual coercion and sexual exploitation at the work place or in a situation of dependency and still applied to cases without physical contact.
The implications of the two age limits (completely illegal under 18, punished with up to five years in jail between 18 and 21, not punished above the age of 21) are ludicruous - a couple who fell in love at sixteen and seventeen would have had to take a break from their relationship for four years until both partners were over the age of twenty-one.
Reasons given by politicians was that male homosexuality (female homosexuality conveniently did not exist back then) was a threat to the general public, especially to the young men, and to the public health, which would surely degenerate if the vice of male homosexuality was not kept at bay with the law. The reason the age limits were introduced was without a doubt the military service which young German men have to complete, most of them during these ages.
In 1973 the law was amended again as people now came of age when they were 18. It was now legal for men to have sex with men above the age of eighteen, men over eighteen having sex with men under eighteen still faced up to five years in prison, although judges could rule that they should only be fined if the culprits were under the age of twenty-one. Also, the law now only applied to cases with physical contact.
This law remained intact until 1994, when it was only abolished because of the German reunion. While integrating the laws of the two Germanies, this one, which had been abolished in the GDR in 1988, also did not make it into the new system.
However, that seems to be the only reason why it was abolished. If it hadn't been for the German reunion, young men who sleep with men would most probably still be facing charges and time in jail.
Sad about this long story of injustice in our justice system is that the madness still continues. Our fast German government rehabilitated the men charged with homosexuality during the Third Reich symbolically in - wait for it - 2002. Those forty percent of the people who were convicted in the third reich and survived it are dead by now, obviously.
Seeing as the current generation was still partly raised with the mindset that it is illegal to sleep with men and that young boys need to be protected of the sick, insatiable sexual appetites of the vicious homosexual men, it will probably need a long, looong time until male homosexuality is equal in German heads- especially if the CDU remains in charge.
Number of convictions in Germany between 1919 and 1989:
Larger version
Sources:
lordhellebore yesterday, which also skimmed the history of the criminalisation of homosexuality in Germany and made me write this entry. I was going to take time and read my friends list properly for the first time in months again on the weekend. There are several comments which I haven't answered to yet.
The §175 used to be the paragraph criminalising sex between men. ( §175 )
Considering when neirbouring countries abolished the laws, it's depressing that it took so long in Germany. Homosexuality was decriminalised in England in 1967, in Scotland in 1980, and in Northern Ireland in 1982. The laws criminalising homosexuality in Germany were not abolished until 1994.
Nineteen-nintey-four. A little more than over fourteen years ago. While some of the people on my friends list were having their first romantic encounters at school or their first relationships, there were men in Germany who were fined or imprisoned for having sex.
The earliest version of §175 was introduced in the Weimarer Republic in 1871. In the relatively liberal Weimarer Republic, which had a flurishing gay and lesbian subculture, there were several petition and even movies asking for the removal of the paragraph. Psychologists and gay rights activists both sought to abolish the criminalisation, but were unsucessful as the political climate changed in the thirties.
It was made more severe in 1935 - instead of six months in jail for homosexual acts between men, the limit was raised to no less than three months and no more than ten years. The law applied to men who had sex with men under twenty-one, cases of sexual exploitation at the work-place or in a position of dependance (sorry if my legal speech is very wrong, Bron), and male prostution. Later, it even physical contact was no longer necessary to warrant a conviction, as they were also after punishing voyeurs and men masturbating in the same room.
During this period, the numbers of prosecuations and convictions soared, and I don't think I have to elaborate on the fate which met gay men in concentration camps.
As more and more men were convicted or investigated, even the mere suspicion of homosexual activity was enough to warrant an arrest and an investigation - usually in that order ("protective custody"). Half of the cases which were brought to the attention of the authorities were reported by neighbours and colleagues, paranoia soared.
After 1945, western Germany kept the paragraph as it was as it was not believed to contain Nazi ideology. Men who had been imprisoned in concentration camps by the Nazis were transferred to prisons while those who had been prosecuted for religious and other reasons were freed.
Between 1965 and 1969 the law was amended and the probably most ludicrous version introduced. ( Here it is. )
Men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one who had sex with men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one could be sentenced to up to five years in jail. The law also applied to male prostitutes for males and sexual coercion and sexual exploitation at the work place or in a situation of dependency and still applied to cases without physical contact.
The implications of the two age limits (completely illegal under 18, punished with up to five years in jail between 18 and 21, not punished above the age of 21) are ludicruous - a couple who fell in love at sixteen and seventeen would have had to take a break from their relationship for four years until both partners were over the age of twenty-one.
Reasons given by politicians was that male homosexuality (female homosexuality conveniently did not exist back then) was a threat to the general public, especially to the young men, and to the public health, which would surely degenerate if the vice of male homosexuality was not kept at bay with the law. The reason the age limits were introduced was without a doubt the military service which young German men have to complete, most of them during these ages.
In 1973 the law was amended again as people now came of age when they were 18. It was now legal for men to have sex with men above the age of eighteen, men over eighteen having sex with men under eighteen still faced up to five years in prison, although judges could rule that they should only be fined if the culprits were under the age of twenty-one. Also, the law now only applied to cases with physical contact.
This law remained intact until 1994, when it was only abolished because of the German reunion. While integrating the laws of the two Germanies, this one, which had been abolished in the GDR in 1988, also did not make it into the new system.
However, that seems to be the only reason why it was abolished. If it hadn't been for the German reunion, young men who sleep with men would most probably still be facing charges and time in jail.
Sad about this long story of injustice in our justice system is that the madness still continues. Our fast German government rehabilitated the men charged with homosexuality during the Third Reich symbolically in - wait for it - 2002. Those forty percent of the people who were convicted in the third reich and survived it are dead by now, obviously.
Seeing as the current generation was still partly raised with the mindset that it is illegal to sleep with men and that young boys need to be protected of the sick, insatiable sexual appetites of the vicious homosexual men, it will probably need a long, looong time until male homosexuality is equal in German heads
Number of convictions in Germany between 1919 and 1989:
Larger version
Sources:
