Last week, Germany’s Cabinet approved a bill that, if approved by Parliament, will overturn the post-WWII convictions of thousands of gay men and provide financial compensation for convictions and jail time served. Here's an article with more information.
As we learn in class about queer history in the US, I have enjoyed learning a bit more about queer history in other countries as well, and it's interesting to see how those histories can mirror what has happened in our country’s past and present. I found it particularly powerful, in this article, to read about the experience of Fritz Schmehling and his desire not to die with a criminal record -- it reminded me of the American veteran in “Coming Out Under Fire” who was still struggling to upgrade his blue discharge 50 years later. Both examples raise the question of how countries/groups/individuals go about trying to right past wrongs and highlight how painfully long that process can take.
I agree about how fun it is to learn about gay history (and present) in other countries. This article is awesome. I especially love how at the end, they mention three other places (Britain, NZ, and Canada) that also plan to follow similar paths. It really goes to show how much our world is changing.
ReplyDelete