Magnus Hirschfeld: a pioneer of progress
- The Random Leftist
- Jun 14, 2020
- 5 min read
It's that time of year again, where all the LGBTQ+ individuals of the world can go out and be themselves. At the same time, the homophobes have to cry in their beds anxiously waiting for the month to end so they can go back to making homophobic statements and claim their only joking to avoid the reproduction of their actions. Now, most believe that the LGBTQ+ movement only truly began to gain traction during the '60s and '70s. Though this is true, there's still more to the story then, such as the fact that there was an international organization during the '20s and 30's that advocated rights for individuals who nowadays would be considered LGBTQ+.
This story begins at the end of another. The year was 1919, shortly after the conclusion of what was then the bloodiest war in European history and definitely one which changed the Gary identity of the continent. The German empire founded a mere four decades prior had ceased to exist and in its place was the turbulent but semi-stable Weimar republic. A government that went down in infamy for its political instability. Due to the republic not having any solid ideological foundation, political movements of all strands had varying degrees of influence, and a handful of new ideologies arose. All ideas were on the table. However, some of these groups and movements weren't motivated by a single ideology or even desired to take over the government but instead wished for reforms to be undertaken on some select issues and didn't side with any particular ideologies, in some cases having supporters that were all over the political spectrum. Additionally, some of these movements had groups that weren't precisely political (in the sense that they wished to seize power) in nature but rather scientific or sociological. Being dedicated to studying specific issues, rather than political agitation. Though, of course, many members of these institutes did use the findings made by the institutes to justify their political stances, and these institutes weren't apolitical by nature, with their leadership heavily involved in politics.
One such organization was Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, which was founded by veteran activists, physicians, sexologists, and psychiatrist Arthur Konfeld. This was a nonprofit organization dedicated to research the nature of sexuality to draft policy on how it should be tackled by the law and education systems. However, LGBTQ+ rights weren't the only things the institute researched and advocated for. It was also in favor of increased women's rights and increased use of contraceptives. At the head of this organization was Magnus Hirschfeld, a man who, in the years prior to the war, had ruthlessly but also peacefully criticized and denounced the stances society had on homosexuality and non-binary people. Creating a petition which advocated for the decriminalization of same-sex marriage, during the final years of the 19th century that collected over 5,000 signature among them being Albert Einstien and Thomas Munn.
In addition to research, the institute also granted consultations to individuals with sexual abnormalities and even allowed free visits to poor individuals. It was also divided into multiple divisions that focused on separate issues. Such as medical and psychological divisions. Annually the institute had roughly 20,000 visits and 1,800 consultations.
The institute also served as the headquarters of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee. A multinational organization primarily based in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, founded a few decades before the first world war which Hirschfeld was a founding member of. Which is regarded as the first LGBTQ organization in history. However, Hirschfeld felt that this organization didn't reach far enough, so he founded the world league of sexual reform. An international (though to be brutally honest, European).
This organization would have a ten-point political program. Which consisted of:
Economic, political, and sexual equality of men and women
Secularization and reform of laws on marriage and divorce
Birth control to make birth voluntary and responsible
Eugenic birth selection
Protection of unmarried mothers and "illegitimate children."
Rational understanding of intersex people and homosexuals.
Comprehensive sex education
Reforms to eliminate the dangers of prostitution
Treating sexual abnormalities medically, rather than "as crimes, vices or sins."
Legalization of sexual acts between consenting adults, while criminalizing sexual acts without consent, or acts upon minors and the mentally disabled. Distinguishing crime from vice.
Now one of these is not like the others. I'm, of course, referring to point number 4. Now though a believer in eugenics, he was (at least by the standards of those times) moderate on the issues, at least in a sense. Though today those views would be somewhat problematic. Though he did oppose homosexuality being claimed to be a degenerate act, he still believed in degeneracy was something passed down genetically. Despite arguing that homosexuality was not a degenerate act, he claimed that homosexuals had degenerate genes, and if they were to reproduce, they'd spread those genes and have degenerate children. Nowadays, these beliefs would be denounced and shunned. However, they don't discredit the whole of Hirschfeld's work. Similar to how Freud's misogyny doesn't prove all his theories wrong. Like Freud, the modern followers of Hirschfeld discard his outdated beliefs while retaining and expanding upon his more valid ones.
Both domestically and abroad, this institute was met with both intrigue and scrutiny by other scientific and sociological organizations, with the likes of Sigmund Freud citing his research in order to back up his own theories on homosexuality. Additionally, many health experts and officials also looked into the institute's findings. This included the USSR's commissar of health Nikolai Semashko.
The institute was also home to many innovations in the field of sexology, like the coining of the term transsexualism and some of the earliest gender reassignment surgeries. They were also proponents of the theory that there was a third gender. Additionally, though they didn't get any of the significant reforms they wanted to be passed they still did get the authorities to agree to minor changes. Like how they managed to get the Berlin police to issue transvestite passes to individuals who chose to were closest to the opposite Gender. Though primarily based in Germany, the institute and humanitarian society hosted a handful of congress abroad. In places as far away from each other as London and Brno. There were even plans to hold one congress in Moscow, but those got sidelined as the Government of the USSR became increasingly more homophobic under Stalin's administration.
To add insult to injury, Joseph Stalin wasn't the only European statesman that was homophobic. For in Hirschfeld's own homeland of Germany, the infamous far-right Nazi party had taken power. Luckily for Hirschfeld, he was out of the country at the time. Instead of being on a worldwide lecture tour. However, the bulk of his and the institute's work wasn't. This meant that it was among the books burned by the Nazis when they conducted their countrywide campaign of eliminating all things they considered degenerate. In fact, a large amount of the footage shown in documentaries of the Nazis burning books was footage of them burning the books of the institute. Sadly much of the work destroyed was yet to be translated into other languages, thus causing them to be lost forever.
Hirschfeld's life would come to an end a mere two years later. Interestingly enough, the day he died on was also his birthday. He'd die in the French city of Nice. However, that wasn't the end of Hirschfeld's story. During his trips around the world, he met many like-minded individuals. One of these individuals was Shiu Tong Li, who was also a lover of Hirschfeld's. He had such a close relationship with Hirschfeld that Hirschfeld had given him all his surviving books and travel journals. Li would keep these books up until his death. However, they'd remain unpublished up until the 90's when they'd find their way into the hands of
the burgeoning LGBTQ+ Movement, who'd get them translated and republished.
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