Oskar is on the night train, heading home after an interview in Stockholm. With a long night ahead of him, he makes eye contact with Ahmad. For the first time, he meets the gaze of someone who feels the same desire as he does.
In Nazi Germany, homosexuality was persecuted to a degree unprecedented in history. In 1935, the National Socialists issued an order making all male homosexuality a crime; the provisions governing homosexual behaviour in Section 175 of the Criminal Code were significantly expanded and made stricter. A kiss was enough reason to prosecute. There were more than 50,000 convictions. Under Section 175, the punishment was imprisonment; in some cases, convicted offenders were castrated. Thousands of men were sent to concentration camps for being gay; many of them died there. They died of hunger, disease and abuse or were the victims of targeted killings.
The National Socialists destroyed the communities of gay men and women. Female homosexuality was not prosecuted, except in annexed Austria; the National Socialists did not find it as threatening as male homosexuality. However, lesbians who came into conflict with the regime were also subject to repressive measures. Under the Nazi regime, gay men and women lived in fear and under constant pressure to hide their sexuality.
For many years, the homosexual victims of National Socialism were not included in public commemorations –neither in the Federal Republic nor in the German Democratic Republic. In both East and West Germany, homosexuality continued to be prosecuted for many years. In the Federal Republic, Section 175 remained in force without amendment until 1969.
Because if its history, German has a special responsibility to actively oppose the violation of gay men’s and lesbians’ human rights. In many parts of the world, people continue to be persecuted for their sexuality, homosexual love remains illegal and a kiss can be dangerous.
With this memorial, the Federal Republic of Germany intends to honour the victims of persecution and murder, to keep alive the memory of this injustice, and to create a lasting symbol of opposition to enmity, intolerance and the exclusion of gay and lesbians.
The memorial sits on the edge of Berlin’s biggest park, Tiergarten, within view of the Brandenburg Gate, Peter Eisenman’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and the new, terror-proof American Embassy. It consists of a concrete stele, thirteen feet high, with a small window through which viewer’s can watch a looped video, shot by Robby Müller (Wim Wenders’s cinematographer) and directed by Dogma 95 cofounder Thomas Vinterberg, of two men and two women kissing. The memorial was designed by the Danish-Norwegian duo artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset, and was inaugurated in 2008.
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| Homo Memorial in Tiergarten, Berlin |
The story of two British teens, Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, at an all-boys grammar school. Charlie, a high-strung, openly gay overthinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, one day are made to sit together in class. Their friendship quickly becomes something more for Charlie, but he initially does not believe he has a chance with Nick. But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realized. Based on Alice Oseman's bestselling graphic novel series Heartstopper. Eight 25-minute episodes on Netflix. (UK, 2022) You will want to binge-watch it in one sitting. Tenderness is the word. A must-see, feel-good story.
Canadian Armed Forces Trolled The Proud Boys
A hashtag used by the far-right hate group, Proud Boys, has been hijacked by the LGBT+ community.
The white supremacist group gained notoriety earlier this week when US President Donald Trump refused to publicly condemn them during the first presidential debate with Joe Biden.
Responding to a question from moderator Chris Wallace, who asked if he would condemn white supremacist and militia groups that have showed up at some protests, Trump said: “Sure, I’m willing to do that. But I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing.”
On the Proud Boys’ account on the messaging app Telegram, members of the group celebrated the apparent endorsement.
“Trump basically said to go fuck them up,” said one of the Proud Boys’ leaders in a chat on the right-wing social media app Parler. “This makes me so happy.”
In response, gay men have taken to Twitter to reclaim the #ProudBoys hashtag, flooding it with photos of happy – and proud – gay couples.
Among those who have posted in support of the hashtag include the Canadian armed forces, who tweeted a photo of one of their members kissing another man.
Accompanying the photo was the message: “If you wear our uniform, know what it means. If you’re thinking about wearing our uniform, know what it means.
“Love is love. Know what we mean?”
The tweet has been retweeted more than 7,000 times within hours of being posted.
The hijacking of the #ProudBoys hashtag has been partly attributed to actor and activist George Takei, who wrote: “What if gay guys took pictures of themselves making out with each other or doing very gay things, then tagged themselves with #ProudBoys.”
The LGBT+ community responded immediately with rainbow flags and messages and images of queer love and pride.
Love is love – and we’re 100% for it.
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| A samesex couple posing with their son in Bristol, UK. Photo: MARTIN PARR / MAGNUM HAPPY PRIDE |
