LGBT history in Germany

1 prior to 1600
2 1600-1799
3 19th century
4 20th century
5 21st century
6 References

The modern-day Federal Republic of Germany has only legalized same-sex relationships comparatively recently in its history, compared to centuries of legal restrictions upon sexual relations between members of the same sex or gender.

prior to 1600

1007 – The Decretum of Burchard of Worms equates homosexual acts with other sexual transgressions such as adultery and argues, therefore, that it should have the same penance (generally fasting).^[1]
1532 – Holy Roman Empire makes sodomy punishable by death.^[1]

1600-1799

1620 – Brandenburg-Prussia criminalizes sodomy, making it punishable by death.^[1]
1721 – Catherina Margaretha Linck is executed for female sodomy in Germany.
1794 – The Kingdom of Prussia abolishes the death penalty for sodomy.^[1]

19th century

1867 – On August 29, 1867, Karl Heinrich Ulrichs became the first self-proclaimed homosexual to speak out publicly for homosexual rights when he pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a resolution urging the repeal of anti-homosexual laws.
1869 – The term "homosexuality" appears in print for the first time in a German-Hungarian pamphlet written by Karl-Maria Kertbeny (1824–1882).
1871 – Homosexuality is criminalized throughout the German Empire by Paragraph 175 of the Reich Criminal Code; Guatemala and Mexico decriminalize homosexual acts.

20th century

1900-1929

1907 – Adolf Brand, the activist leader of the Gemeinschaft der Eigenen, working to overturn Paragraph 175, publishes a piece "outing" the imperial chancellor of Germany, Prince Bernhard von Bülow. The Prince sues Brand for libel and clears his name; Brand is sentenced to 18 months in prison.^[2]
1907–1909 – Harden-Eulenburg Affair in Germany^[3]
1919 – In Berlin, Germany, Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld co-founds the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft (Institute for Sex Research), a pioneering private research institute and counseling office. Its library of thousands of books was destroyed by Nazis in May, 1933.^[4]^[5]^[6]
1919 - Different From the Others, one of the first explicitly gay films, is released. Magnus Hirschfeld has a cameo in the film and partially funded its production.
1929 - On October 16, a Reichstag Committee votes to repeal Paragraph 175; the Nazis' rise to power prevents the implementation of the vote.

1930-1949

1931 - Mädchen in Uniform, one of the first explicitly lesbian films and the first pro-lesbian film, is released.
1933 – The National Socialist German Workers Party bans homosexual groups. Homosexuals are sent to concentration camps. Nazis burn the library of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Research, and destroy the Institute
1937 – The first use of the pink triangle for gay men in Nazi concentration camps.
1945 – Upon the liberation of Nazi concentration camps by Allied forces, those interned for homosexuality are not freed, but required to serve out the full term of their sentences under Paragraph 175

1950-1969

1950 - East Germany partially abrogates the Nazis' emendations to Paragraph 175.
1968 – Paragraph 175 is eased in East Germany decriminalizing homosexual acts over the age of 18
1969 - Paragraph 175 is eased in West Germany.

1970-1999

1974 - General Gay Association, the second openly-LGBT rights organization in German history, is established.
1985 - Herbert Rusche becomes the first openly-gay member of the Bundestag.
1987 - Jutta Oesterle-Schwerin becomes the first lesbian member of the Bundestag.

21st century

2000 - the Bundestag officially apologizes to gays and lesbians persecuted under the Nazi regime, and for "harm done to homosexual citizens up to 1969".
2001 - Germany recognizes civil partnerships for same-sex couples (without joint adoption until Oct 2004, then with step-adoption); Klaus Wowereit becomes the first openly-gay politician elected mayor of Berlin (and, by virtue of Berlin's status as a state, one of the two first openly-gay premier of a German state; also makes Berlin the largest city in the world with an openly-gay mayor); Ole von Beust becomes the first openly-gay mayor of Hamburg.
2004 - same-sex stepchild adoption is legalized; Guido Westerwelle, leader of the FDP, becomes the first leader of a major party to come out.
2009 - Westerwelle becomes the first openly-gay member of the Federal Cabinet (Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister under Angela Merkel coalition government).

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d (Fone, 2000)
^ Marc Vargo. Scandal: infamous gay controversies of the twentieth century Routledge, 2003. pp 165–7.
^ Steakley, James D. (revised 1989). "Iconography of a Scandal: Political Cartoons and the Eulenburg Affair in Wilhelmin Germany", Hidden from History: Reclaiming the Gay & Lesbian Past (1990), Duberman, et al., eds. New York: Meridian, New American Library, Penguin Books. ISBN 0-452-01067-5.
^ hirschfeld.in-berlin.de, The first Institute for Sexual Science
^ Famous GLBT & GLBTI People - Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld stonewallsociety
^ Atina Grossmann. Reforming Sex. Oxford University Press, 1995.

LGBT history in Europe

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