Scan barcode
smeerosinabrown's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
A detailed and comprehensive account of a hugely influential time. I only wish more care had been taken with the pronouns of the trans people represented.
spacestationtrustfund's review against another edition
3.0
In the half century before the Nazis rose to power, Berlin became the undisputed queer capital of the world. In 1919 Magnus Hirschfeld, renowned sexologist and scientist, opened the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft in Berlin—the first of its kind in the world. The Institut soon became a sought-after source for local and foreign students, academics, politicians, and more. For local Berlin residents it was known as a place providing counselling and treatment, often life-saving, for queer people, transvestites,* intersex individuals, and many others. Over 40 people worked at the Institut in various fields, including sexological research, counselling, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and public sex education. Berlin was a "city of firsts," claiming also the world's first LGBT rights organisation (Wissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee), the first trans women to undergo gender confirmation surgery, the person who invented the word "transvestite" (as a precursor to "transgender"), the first organization specifically focused on queer research, the first queer journal, the first specifically lesbian magazine, the first openly queer film, the first openly lesbian film, the first openly queer music, the first public advocacy for queer people.
*At the time, a clear distinction was not made between transgender people, transsexual people, cross-dressers, transvestites, and queer people (usually but not always men).
*At the time, a clear distinction was not made between transgender people, transsexual people, cross-dressers, transvestites, and queer people (usually but not always men).
diariodegradabile's review
5.0
Un libro migliore per addentrarmi nella sottocultura omosessuale berlinese a cavallo tra Ottocento e Novecento non potevo trovarlo. Chiaro, interessante e scorrevole. E' stata una lettura che mi ha affascinata e che mi ha fatto entrare in contatto con personalità e fatti che non avrei potuto conoscere in altro modo (davvero, ho cercato su google alcune personalità descritte e nella maggior parte di casi non ho trovato nulla). Ciò è dovuto al fatto che questo importante pezzo di storia ha iniziato a bruciare e a scomparire da quando il regime nazista ha preso il controllo in Germania. Difatti 5 stelle non sono abbastanza per Robert Beachy, docente universitario di storia, che è riuscito a scrivere un libro così approfondito e dettagliato nonostante, immagino, le difficoltà nel reperire tutte le informazioni.
richardr's review against another edition
The main thing that leaps out from this is the extent to which the development of a gay rights in Berlin prior to Nazi rule followed precisely the same course as its later development in the postwar US and UK. During the late 19th century, the activism of Karl Heinrich Ulrichs had a similar pattern to figures like Frank Kameney or Peter Wildeblood: having been outed and fired from their jobs, all three chose to campaign on the issue rather than accept that they had done anything wrong. By the twenties and thirties, the work of Magnus Hirschfield did much here to establish that being gay (or indeed transgender) was an inherent orientation and this did provide a basis for a set of rights movements. The factionalism of these movements similarly preempts later debates. On the one hand, some like Stonewall sought to work with political parties to secure reform and often did so by emphasising the respectable nature of most gay men. Others sought a more radical approach that worked by seeking to out prominent figures in the same way Outrage later did; the main difference was at this point the victims often ended up taking their one lives as a consequence.
There are some notable differences; Berlin was a military city and much of the core of its gay community consisted of soldiers, many of whom gravitated towards Nazi support in spite of their hostile stance towards gay rights. Eventually, this was to lead to the Night of the Long Knivesand the destruction of Berlin's gay community.
There are some notable differences; Berlin was a military city and much of the core of its gay community consisted of soldiers, many of whom gravitated towards Nazi support in spite of their hostile stance towards gay rights. Eventually, this was to lead to the Night of the Long Knivesand the destruction of Berlin's gay community.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content