Sex and the Weimar Republic
- Creator
- Marhoefer, Laurie
Sex and the Weimar Republic
The home of the world’s first gay rights movement, the Weimar republic embodied a progressive, secular vision of sexual liberation. But those sexual freedoms were only obtained at the expense of a minority who were deemed sexually disordered. In Weimar Germany, the citizen’s right to sexual freedom came with a duty to keep sexuality private, non-commercial, and respectable. This book examines the rise of sexual tolerance through the debates which surrounded “immoral” sexuality: obscenity, male homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender identity, heterosexual promiscuity, and prostitution. It follows the sexual politics of a swath of Weimar society ranging from sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld to Nazi stormtrooper Ernst Röhm.
- Creator
- Marhoefer, Laurie