This is a spotlight thread for Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935). A German, Jewish, gay physician and sex researcher who was outspoke in his advocacy for the decriminalisation of sexual relations between men as stated in Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code (1871).
Despite its illegality, homosexuality was prominent in Germany. Additionally, from the mid-late 19th Century onwards, human sexuality became a popular area of debate and scientific study in Europe and the US. Campaigns to decriminalise homosexuality followed soon after.
Homosexual identity continued to grow into the years of the Weimar Republic (1918-33) amidst political turmoil & economic depression. Throughout, the Scientific Humanitarian Committee (1897) petitioned to decriminalise homosexuality. This group was led by Magnus Hirschfeld.
These efforts were brought to a halt by the Nazi government. In 1919, Hirschfeld founded the Institute for Sexual Science. There he was a pioneer in research regarding sexuality and encouraged public education of human sexuality. Other services include the offering of birth control and marriage counselling.
The Institute also served as a safe space for LGBT+ people and a refuge for trans people in society. Hirschfeld would perform surgeries and offered them employment. Following the rise of Nazism in 1932, all those associated with the Institute became targets for harassment.
On May 6, 1933, the Institute was sacked by students. Staff were beaten up, and all books burnt. These book burnings targeted works written by prominent Jewish intellectuals. This destruction was a clear sign that the Nazis would not tolerate reformist sexual policies.
Magnus Hirschfeld lived out his life in Zurich. These events would only serve to amplify the sentiment Hirschfeld was moved to conclude after assessing the rate of suicide among homosexual men that, “life in Germany was unbearable for homosexuals.
Hirschfeld’s institute, research and dedicated activism helped sustain an environment in which sexual identity could flourish in Germany at this time. Paving the way for contemporary discussion and unknowingly offering LGBT+ people restbite for the harsh years ahead.
Anna Ostrowski and Sam Stevenson - LGBT+ Conservatives International Coordinator and the Regional Coordinator for Northern Ireland
