Although homosexual acts among men had
traditionally been a criminal offense throughout much of Germany,
lesbianism (homosexual acts among women) was not criminalized. This was
true in large part because of the subordinate role of women in German
state and society. Unlike male
homosexuals,
lesbians were not generally regarded as a social or political threat.
Even after the Nazi rise to power in 1933, most lesbians in Germany were
able to live relatively quiet lives, generally undisturbed by the
police.
Although they were hampered by the inferior roles ascribed to women
in Imperial Germany, lesbians had been part of the homosexual
emancipation movement in Germany since the 1890s. German law prohibited
women from joining political organizations until 1908. Even after the
easing of this restriction women were discouraged from political
activity, so lesbians turned to more informal gatherings in bars and
clubs. This trend coincided with a general easing of sexual morality in
Germany after World War I. The Weimar Republic brought with it new
social and political freedoms. For most homosexual men and lesbian women
in Germany, the Weimar era was a time of relative openness.
Berlin and other major cities became centers of homosexual life in
Germany. In Berlin, clubs like the "Dorian Gray" and "The Magic Flute
Dance Palace" helped create a lesbian social network, making it easier
for urban lesbians to live openly than for those in more rural areas of
Germany. The easing of censorship restrictions led to a variety of
lesbian literature including the journals
Frauenliebe (Female Love) and
Die Freundin (Girlfriend).
 |
Identification pictures of Henny Schermann, a shop assistant in
Frankfurt am Main. In 1940 police arrested Henny, who was Jewish and a
lesbian, and deported her to the Ravensbrueck concentration camp for
women. She was killed in 1942. Ravensbrueck, Germany, 1941.
— Stadtarchiv Nürnberg
|
Traditional political and social conservatives harshly criticized
this new openness for homosexuals in Germany. The resurgence of
political conservatism in the later years of the Weimar Republic led to a
new series of repressive measures against homosexuals. In 1928, for
example, the police banned
Die Freundin and other lesbian
literature based on the Protection of Youth from Obscene Publications
Act. Many conservatives demanded the enactment of criminal statutes
against lesbian sexual acts. Pamphleteers such as Erhard Eberhard wrote
tracts against homosexuals, feminists, Republicans, and Jews, groups
that were often linked by conservatives to a conspiracy to destroy
Germany. In particular they denounced the movement for women's rights,
claiming it was really a front for seducing German women into
lesbianism.
With the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933, this conservative
backlash was replaced with state repression. The Nazis believed women
were not only inferior to men but also by nature dependent on them;
therefore, they considered lesbians to be less threatening than male
homosexuals. The Nazis regarded women as passive, especially in sexual
matters, and in need of men to fulfill their lives and participate in
sex. Many Nazis also worried that the more explicit social affection
between individual women blurred the lines between friendship and
lesbianism, making more difficult the task of ferreting out "true"
lesbians. Finally, the Nazis dismissed lesbianism as a state and social
problem because they believed lesbians could still carry out a German
woman's primary role: to be a mother of as many "Aryan" babies as
possible. Every woman, regardless of her sexuality, could serve the Nazi
state as wife and mother.
The Nazis nonetheless persecuted lesbians, albeit less severely than
they persecuted male homosexuals. Soon after Hitler's appointment as
chancellor, the police systematically raided and closed down homosexual
meeting bars and clubs, forcing lesbians to meet in secret. The Nazis
created a climate of fear by encouraging police raids and denunciations
against lesbians. Many lesbians broke off contacts with their circles of
friends, some moving to new cities where they would be unknown. Others
even sought the protection of marriage, entering into marriages of
convenience with male homosexual friends.
While the police regarded lesbians as "asocials"--people who did not
conform to Nazi norms and therefore could be arrested or sent to
concentration camps--few were imprisoned because of their sexuality
alone. The Nazis did not classify lesbians as homosexual prisoners, and
only male homosexual prisoners had to wear the pink triangle. Though
police arrests of lesbians were comparatively rare, the threat of
persecution made living openly as a lesbian dangerous.
Lesbians also suffered discrimination because of the Nazis' policy
toward German women in general. Since the Nazis believed women should
serve primarily as wives and mothers, they forced women out of
prestigious careers. Paradoxically, labor demands brought on by
rearmament and the war actually increased the number of working women,
though they were relegated to work in low-paying jobs. The low wages set
for women particularly affected lesbians, since lesbians were generally
unmarried and could not rely on a husband's job for support. Economic
hardships combined with ever-increasing social pressures and fear of
arrest to make the lives of lesbians difficult even though sexual acts
between females were not illegal in Nazi Germany.
Though many lesbians experienced hardships during the Third Reich,
the Nazis did not systematically persecute them. Those who were willing
to be discreet and inconspicuous, marry male friends, or otherwise seem
to conform to the expectations of society were often left alone and
survived.
Cite: Lesbians and the Third Reich, Author United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005478. Accessed by Kini Cosma on 11/11/13 at 11:11 am
November 8, 2013
Washington,
D.C.—The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights held its 149th
regular session from October 24 to November 8, 2013. During the session,
the Commission held hearings and working meetings, and approved reports
on individual cases and petitions. In 2013, the IACHR received 374
requests for hearings and held 114 hearings, both record numbers. The
hearings held during the 149th session addressed a range of different
human rights issues in 18 countries, and 10 regional hearings were also
held.
The hearings and reports reflect some of the structural
human rights problems that persist in the region. These have to do with
respect for the right to life and humane treatment; guarantees of due
process and judicial protection; the exercise of economic, social, and
cultural rights and the right to freedom of expression; and the
situation concerning the rights of children, migrants, human rights
defenders, indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, women, persons deprived
of liberty, persons with disabilities, and lesbian, gay, trans,
bisexual, and intersex persons, among other issues.
[F]inally,
the Commission reiterates that any type of reprisal or stigmatization
that a State may undertake because of the participation or actions of
individuals or organizations before the bodies of the inter-American
system, in exercise of their treaty rights, is unacceptable. The
Commission reminds the States that Article 63 of the IACHR Rules of
Procedure establishes that States “shall grant the necessary guarantees
to all the persons who attend a hearing or who in the course of a
hearing provide information, testimony or evidence of any type,” and
that States “may not prosecute the witnesses or experts, or carry out
reprisals against them or their family members because of their
statements or expert opinions given before the Commission.”
A
principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS),
the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American
Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate
to promote respect for human rights in the region and acts as a
consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of
seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by
the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of
origin or residence. Full ruling at:
http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2013/083A.asp
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