An Abbreviated History of Sexual Persecution
Buried Wounds
I’ve always wondered why gay men attach themselves to the LGBTQ label so fiercely. The label gets widely celebrated for treating distinct groups as a monolith, and yet, people blindly go along with it. LGBTQ as a marker has not united gender and queer minorities — It has erased the history, suffering, and identity of gay men. The idea that they all share the same collective burden has always bothered me. Gay men have always borne the brunt of hate and abuse. This post is an abbreviated history of the oppression that gay and bi men have suffered throughout history.
Paragraph 175 and The Nazi Obsession with Motherhood
Kinder, Küche, Kirche — children, kitchen, church
One of the most stark examples of this contrast took place in Nazi Germany of all places. The housewife and mother occupied a central place in Nazi ideology. The regime believed that Germany’s future depended on the rising birthrates of Aryans. Women had innate value in being a mother and housewife, with the state encouraging them to marry early, have larger families, and devote themselves to raising children for the Nazi state. This ideal was pitched through the slogan Kinder, Küche, Kirche,(“children, kitchen, church”), which really emphasized the role all women were meant to play in German society. It’s already known that humanity has a pro-female/anti-male bias, but due to this added ideological layer, gay men and lesbian women were treated very differently.
>The Nazis did not systematically prosecute or persecute lesbians solely because of their sexuality. Under the Nazi regime, there was no official law or policy prohibiting sexual relations between women. This is unlike the case of gay men. The Nazi regime saw lesbians, first and foremost, as women.
>The Nazis believed that German women had a special task to perform: motherhood. According to Nazi logic, lesbians were women and should thus be mothers. They had a responsibility to give birth to racially pure Germans, called “Aryans”
>The Nazis did not create any separate policies that singled out lesbians as a problem for Aryan procreation. Their reasoning drew on widespread attitudes about the differences between male and female sexuality. The Nazis concluded that Aryan lesbians could easily be persuaded or forced to bear children.
However, gay men were not let off the hook. The Nazi’s carried out their targeting of gay between 1933 and 1945. Their campaign specifically went after men who had sexual relations with other men. Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code was one of the Nazi regime’s chief instruments for the persecution of gay men. Originally enacted in 1871 as a means to formally criminalize sexual relations between men, the law was dramatically expanded by the Nazi’s in 1935. The definition of the code was broadened to the point that even the mere suggestion of same sex desire in men could be held under punishable homosexual conduct. This revision removed the need to any prove sexual intercourse, which allowed authorities to prosecute men solely on intent, correspondence, or even gestures. The strengthened law fueled an unprecedented number of arrests throughout Nazi Germany, with approximately 100,000 men investigated, around 50,000 convicted under paragraph 175, and thousands sent to concentration camps. Once at camp, gay men were forced to wear pink triangles meant to identify and subject them to further abuse.
>In the mid- to late 1930s, the police raided bars and other meeting places that they believed to be popular with gay men. The police set up cordons around bars or other locations, and questioned anyone who seemed suspicious. Some men caught up in raids would be released if there was no proof against them. Those whom the police deemed guilty would be tried for violations of Paragraph 175 or, in some cases, sent directly to a concentration camp.
>Police raids were public and high-profile displays in the Nazi campaign against homosexuality. Through raids, the police threatened and intimidated gay communities and individuals. However, raids were not particularly effective. They were not the primary means through which the police tracked down men for alleged violations of Paragraph 175.
>The Kripo and the Gestapo relied on tips or denunciations from the public to gather information about men’s intimate lives and uncover potential violations of Paragraph 175. A neighbor, acquaintance, colleague, friend, or family member could inform the police of their suspicions. The language people used in denunciations makes it clear that these Germans tended to agree with Nazi attitudes towards homosexuality. Denouncers referred to those they denounced as “effeminate,” “unmanly,” and “perverse.” Unlike raids, denunciations were a very effective tool of repression. These acts resulted in perhaps tens of thousands of arrests and convictions.
The Buggery Act of 1533
The Buggery act of 1533 marked the beginning of centuries of state sponsored persecution of gay men in England. Passed by Parliament during King Henry VIII’s reign, it made sex between men punishable by death up until 1861. That’s nearly three hundred and thirty years where being a gay man in England could result in death.
>It was the country’s first civil sodomy law. While anyone could technically be convicted under the act, it was same-sex convictions that were the most common.
That’s an important distinction to make. It was the country’s first sodomy law, so on paper the letter of the law was broad, but in reality, it directly targeted gay men. The focus on anal intercourse made it a gendered law in everything but name, same sex relationships between women were never criminalized under English law. Again, that’s over three hundred years of oppression that gay men exclusively faced for immutable traits they had no control over. Unfortunately, the oppression still persisted long after this.
The Labouchere Amendment of 1885
In 1885, homosexuality was only illegal in accordance with the act buggery. However, this changed when parliament member Henry Labouchere introduced an amendment that made any act of “gross indecency” between two men, whether in public or private, a criminal offense. The law did not define “gross indecency”, which allowed courts to interpret them broadly and prosecute a wide range of consensual activity between males.
>Introduced by Henry Labouchere, Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 made ‘gross indecency’ between men a crime for the first time with a punishment of imprisonment of at least two years with or without hard labour.
>In effect the crime of ‘gross indecency’ could be interpreted in many ways, and meant that any intimacy and/or sexual activity between men, in public or private, was criminalised. In practice the law was used broadly to prosecute intimacy between men when the act of sodomy could not be proven.
>It eventually became known as the Blackmailer’s Charter. Similar gross indecency laws were also later enacted in British colonies across the globe.
>Oscar Wilde and Alan Turing were among the many convicted under section 11
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was a famed Irish poet, novelist, and playwright. Wilde was renowned for his sharp wit, brilliant plays, and unfortunately, his tragic life. He was one of the main voices of the 19th century Aesthetic movement, which believed that art should be created for it’s beauty alone.
>Oscar Wilde, the renowned playwright and literary figure, was convicted of gross indecency on May 25, 1895, in a landmark case that reflected the repressive attitudes towards homosexuality in Victorian England. His relationship with Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas drew public attention and ultimately led to legal battles, spurred by Bosie’s father’s attempt to damage Wilde’s reputation. Wilde’s legal battles began with a libel suit against Douglas’s father, which sought to defend his honor but instead exposed him to scrutiny and accusations of sodomy.
>The trials garnered immense media attention, with sensationalist journalism portraying Wilde as a figure of immorality. Despite a hung jury in his first trial, the Crown pursued a second trial, resulting in Wilde’s conviction and a sentence of two years of hard labor. His imprisonment was marked by harsh conditions and isolation, during which he reflected on his life and relationships, ultimately penning “De Profundis.” After his release, Wilde lived in obscurity in Paris until his death in 1900, leaving behind a complex legacy.
The imprisonment destroyed Wilde’s health, bankrupted him, and sent him into a deep depression. he died three short years after his release from imprisonment.
>Because Wilde’s reputation in London was disgraced and his name was forever tainted by the vicious character assassination performed both by the court and the newspapers, he traveled immediately to Paris after his release on May 19, 1897. He was never again allowed to see his two sons, and all but the most devoted of his friends abandoned him. Wilde lived in destitute poverty and isolation in a Paris hotel, where he died on November 30, 1900; he was only forty-six years old.
Alan Turing (1912-1954) was a pioneering British mathematician, computer scientist, and crypt analyst who is widely considered to be the father of modern computer science and artificial intelligence.
>The posthumous royal pardon granted to war-time code breaker and computer pioneer Alan Turing was a long overdue attempt to put right a grave injustice. Turing had been convicted of homosexuality in 1952, under the same nineteenth century ‘gross indecency’ law that sent Oscar Wilde to prison in 1895.
>Given the option of jail or chemical castration, he chose the latter. The hormonal treatment – similar to the ‘cure’ devised by the Nazi doctor, SS Carl Vaernet – caused Turing horrendous physical and mental distress; including impotency, breast development and depression. He committed suicide two years later, at the age of 41.
>Turing was not alone. An estimated 50,000 men were convicted under the same law during the twentieth century, and a further 50,000 were convicted under other anti-gay laws – making a total of 100,000 convictions. Many were jailed.
>Some were also subjected to chemical castration or to so-called ‘aversion therapy’ – the infliction of electric shocks or drug-induced nausea while they were shown naked male images.
Turing lost his government security clearances he had earned over the course of his decorated career, and was unable to continue his work. He was found dead in his bed, next to a partially eaten apple by his housekeeper on June 8th 1954. The cause of his death was due to cyanide poisoning the day before, and had officially been ruled a suicide. These men helped shape society by transforming literature, launching the digital age, and becoming enduring symbols opposing state-sanctioned homophobia.
