Berlin of the 20s was probably the most liberal place for queer people in the west. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld founded the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft and wrote the first paper on trans identities, gave people counseling, hormones and recommended surgeons.
He was able to decriminalise homosexuality and have trans people allowed to present “sex non-conforming” in public if they had a slip from him.
The Nazis used this for culture wars and promise a return to the golden time of tradition and morality.
His institute was raided in the first book burning, thousand of scientific papers are lost forever, his patients hunted down. He managed to flee to France.
It’s important to treat his persona critically though, because as a scientist of his time, he also adopted some problematic stances on eugenics and racial teachings. On the other hand, he was also one of the few that criticised the rigor of the science behind those teachings from time to time.
Berlin of the 20s was probably the most liberal place for queer people in the west. Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld founded the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft and wrote the first paper on trans identities, gave people counseling, hormones and recommended surgeons.
He was able to decriminalise homosexuality and have trans people allowed to present “sex non-conforming” in public if they had a slip from him.
The Nazis used this for culture wars and promise a return to the golden time of tradition and morality.
His institute was raided in the first book burning, thousand of scientific papers are lost forever, his patients hunted down. He managed to flee to France.
It’s important to treat his persona critically though, because as a scientist of his time, he also adopted some problematic stances on eugenics and racial teachings. On the other hand, he was also one of the few that criticised the rigor of the science behind those teachings from time to time.