Pride & Opinions

If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender it is up to you to learn your own history.  That is the purpose of Historic Thursdays here at Pride and Opinions, because we as the GLBT community need to know our roots.  I promise you won’t learn this stuff in school.

Throughout school we are taught about the horrific acts associated with the Holocaust, but the focus was always (at least in my education) on the atrocities inflicted upon the Jewish people.  While I am in no way attempting to imply that the impact on the Jewish community was unfathomable I feel that it is important for me to mention an aspect of the Holocaust of which you may or may not be aware.

It is a little known thing called Paragraph 175.

175. A male who commits lewd and lascivious acts with another male or permits himself to be so abused for lewd and lascivious acts, shall be punished by imprisonment. In a case of a participant /under 21 years of age at the time of the commission of the act, the court may, in especially slight cases, refrain from punishment.

175a. Confinement in a penitentiary not to exceed ten years and, under extenuating circumstances, imprisonment for not less than three months shall be imposed:

1. Upon a male who, with force or with threat of imminent danger to life and limb, compels another male to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or compels the other party to submit to abuse for lewd and lascivious acts;

2. Upon a male who, by abuse of a relationship of dependence upon him, in consequence of service, employment, or subordination, induces another male to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or to submit to being abused for such, acts;

3. Upon a male who being Over 21 years of age induces another male under 21 years of age to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or to submit to being abused for such acts;

4. Upon a male who professionally engages in lewd and lascivious acts with other men, or submits to such abuse by other men, or offers himself for lewd and lascivious acts with other men.

175b. Lewd and lascivious acts contrary to nature between human beings and animals shall be punished by imprisonment; loss of civil rights may also be imposed.

Paragraph 175 was a part of the German Criminal Code from May of 1871 until March of 1994 that criminalized homosexual acts.  During the Holocaust it was responsible for the capture, torture and death of thousands of homosexuals who stood alongside their Jewish brothers and sisters in the Nazi concentration camps.  It has been estimated that as many as 15,000 homosexuals (estimates vary from different sources) were sentenced during this time, though many alleged homosexuals of the time committed suicide before they could be taken prisoner.

One of the most famous of gay pride symbols – the inverted pink triangle – has its origins in this period of history.  While Jewish concentration camp prisoners wore a Star of David, reported homosexuals bore this pink triangle.

It is important to note as well that in 1945 when the concentration camps were liberated, many homosexuals were forced to remain in captivity to serve out their sentences under Paragraph 175.

An excellent documentary film of the same name was made that included interviews with five of the ten known surviving prisoners of the Nazi era Paragraph 175 imprisonment.  I strongly recommend that you see it regardless of your interest in gay history.

Sources:

• Holocaust Teachers Resource Center
  http://www.holocaust-trc.org/parag175b.htm
• Wikipedia
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paragraph_175