Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Whisnant, Clayton J

Titel

Male Homosexuality in West Germany: Between Persecution and Freedom, 1945-69

Auflage

1

Ort / Verlag

London: Palgrave Macmillan

Erscheinungsjahr

2012

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 01 02 In recent years, much has been written about the fate of homosexuals under Hitler: how they were arrested, incarcerated in prisons and concentration camps, subjected to torture, experiments and even castration. However, little is yet available in English about what happened to them after the Nazi era. Often, the years between 1945 and 1969 are seen simply as a brief interlude before the appearance of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s. This book argues that this period is more important than that. During this time, gay scenes resurfaced, despite the political tensions of the Cold War and the continued enforcement of Nazi-era laws against homosexuality. A more masculine understanding of homosexuality became prominent, leaving its impact on both public stereotypes and personal identities. Finally, a considerable debate about homosexuality emerged among professionals and eventually a wider public, constituting a critical debate within the Sexual Revolution. 13 02 CLAYTON J. WHISNANT is Associate Professor of History at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA. He teaches a range of courses in twentieth century European history and his research focuses on masculinity, sexuality, and West Germany during the Cold War. 19 02 This is the first book in English to focus on the fate of male homosexuals in the decades after Nazism A look at the country's major urban gay scenes as they rebuilt themselves in the context of Cold-War tensions, continued police prosecution, and the gradually changing conceptualisation of same-sex desire A significant contribution to the history of the Sexual Revolution in tracing the impact that doctors, lawyers, theologians, and homophile activists had on the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1969 02 02 Whisnant argues that the period after Nazism was more important for the history of homosexuality in Germany than is generally recognized. Gay scenes resurfaced; a more masculine view of homosexuality also became prominent. Above all, a public debate about homosexuality emerged, constituting a critical debate within the Sexual Revolution. 04 02 Preface Abbreviations and Translations Note on Terminology Introduction: The Neglected Postwar Period Policing and Prejudice The Homophile Movement Struggles over the Boundaries of the Gay Scenes Reforming Paragraph 175 Conclusion: Between Persecution and Freedom Select Bibliography Endnotes 31 02 An examination of male homosexuality in West Germany in the years between the fall of Nazism and the reform of Paragraph 175 16 02 Dagmar Herzog, Sex after Fascism(Princeton, 2005) & Jennifer Evans, Life among the Ruins(Palgrave Macmillan 2011).