In 1930’s Berlin, The Trans Community Was Welcome Then The Nazis Took Over
- June 9, 2023
Flip It 〡and〡 Follow Us
In the fall of 2022, a German court heard an unusual case. It was a civil lawsuit that grew out of a feud on Twitter about whether transgender people were victims of the Holocaust. The court took expert statements from historians before finding that the historical evidence shows that trans people were, indeed, persecuted by the Nazi regime. In 1933, the year that Hitler took power, the police in Essen, Germany, revoked Toni Simon’s permit to dress as a woman in public. Simon, who was in her mid-40s, had been living as a woman for many years. In Berlin, transgender people published several magazines and had a political club. Some glamorous trans women worked at the internationally famous Eldorado cabaret. The sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, who ran Berlin’s Institute for Sexual Science, advocated for the rights of transgender people. The rise of Nazi Germany destroyed this relatively open environment. The Nazis shut down the magazines, the Eldorado and Hirschfeld’s institute. Most people who held certificates allowing them to present as the opposite gender, as Toni Simon did, had them revoked or watched helplessly as police refused to honor them. For a long time, the public didn’t know the stories of trans people in Nazi Germany.
Never miss any important news. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Related News
Never miss any important news. Subscribe to our newsletter.
Recent News
Events Near You
Fort Lauderdale HIV+ Gay Discussion Group
ArtServe, 1350 E Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
GODS GALA
The Ancient Spanish Monastery, 16711 West Dixie Highway North Miami Beach, FL 33160 United States
