1933 - How Nazi Violence Destroyed Berlin’s Gay Freedom

And why this matters now. A brief profile of Magnus Hirschfeld, whose books were the first to burn

While interviewing the brilliant gay rights activist Peter Tatchell with the RadPod team, he mentioned a gentleman by the name of Magnus Hirschfeld, so down the rabbit hole I went.

Fresh on my mind was an investigation I had just zipped off to Byline Media about communication breakdowns in authoritarian countries, and as I was researching Nazi Germany, I noted the book burnings that took place in 1933. 

But with a clue from Tatchell, who has dedicated his life to defending human rights, I learned the origins of the book burnings began during the Weimar years in the 1920s in Berlin. A doctor named Magnus Hirschfeld, who was gay, began studying and documenting gender fluidity, according to Tatchell. 

Dr. Hirschfeld discovered that many of his gay patients were committing suicide and he was also deeply affected by the trial of Oscar Wilde, which he documented in his writings. This led to Dr. Hirschfeld becoming an activist on behalf of gay rights, and ultimately, the founding of the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or the Institute of Sexual Knowledge. He created a haven for people with different gender identities and worked with law enforcement to prevent harassment of people who identified as openly gay. 

All this in the 1920s, a century ago. 

Doctors at his institute performed the first trans woman surgery, and Hirschfeld became a global scholar on gender acceptance - noting the similarities between the gay struggle worldwide. 

‘1933’

In 1933, when Hitler came into power, Berlin’s thriving gay community became the target of Nazi brutality. Gay clubs were attacked, and among the first books burned in May of that year were works by Dr. Hirschfeld, who had written voluminous scholarly works on gender. The burnings were carried out by a Nazi youth student group. Dr. Hirschfeld fled to Paris, where he died two years later.

Fast forward a century and note the echoes of Weimar Germany. In red parts of America, book bannings are taking place, we are seeing stochastic terrorism from far-right extremists encourage mass shootings of gay and trans people. The rhetoric against drag culture, and trans culture is resulting in brutality and violence.

I have spent my entire life in extremely gay California, where it safe to be whoever you want to be. I grew up going to San Francisco’s gay parade with my mother - a joyous annual event. As a nightclub writer in Hollywood, I documented the Gay ‘90s and aughts in all its sparkly fervor. 

I refuse to accept a fascist America, and I am haunted by the words of Jason Stanley.

“There are always years between the violent rhetoric justifying mass violence and the state-sanctioned mass violence,” philosophy professor Jason Stanley said in a recent RadPod interview. 

Stanley noted his concerns about the rhetoric used by extremists such as Ron DeSantis and Michael Flynn as “very dangerous”.

“So people say, ‘Oh but Professor Stanley, you’re calling MAGA fascist.’ Yes, but that’s true.” 

Stanley predicts a worsening of the fascist elements of U.S. society if we do not see high-level arrests for those who tried to overthrow our government.

Should we allow the bullying and escalation of violent rhetoric against the most vulnerable in society to continue, we are setting ourselves up for 1933 redux.

After last month’s mass shooting at a gay club in Colorado, drag performers now live in fear and have had to hire bodyguards. 

I was at Pride Weekend in West Hollywood with my children when the 2016 Orlando massacre took place. I am not memory holing any of this. 

It is our duty to fight fascists - not normalize the brutality that is escalating on our shores.

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Bette Dangerous is a reader-funded magazine and Substack bestseller. Thank you to all monthly, annual, and founding members. Thank you, as well, to those who support my work with coffee tips and who buy my ebooks. My reflection, Confessions of a ‘Fox Blonde’ was just published in Byline Supplement. In a review of my latest ebook, the erotic novella Fox Undercover, I’ve been called “The punk rock Anaïs Nin” and a “powerful woman - the book is smart and sexy AF.”

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