Vom Verbot zur Gleichberechtigung - Hirschfeld-Eddy-Stiftung

03 | Paragraph 175 of the Penal Code: “Abolished” after 123 Years
of the dam” and the decline of civilisation were refuted. Stepping away from the tradition
of persecuting homosexuals was a gain for society on the whole. Civil rights and
freedoms were enhanced, people were brought from the margins of society into the
middle, where they can now realise their full potential.
It is especially important that respect was paid to the victims of Paragraph 175 and that
they received some form of satisfaction through the repeal of their sentences. The fact
that after the end of National Socialism tens of thousands of gay men were persecuted,
locked up, and denied a happy life in breach of their human rights is a monstrous blot on
our country as a state under the rule of law. In relation to this question, a final conclusion
is long overdue.
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38 BGBl I 2002, p. 2714. § 175a No 4 related to the prohibition of homosexual prostitution. | 39 BT-Drs. 16/10944,
16/11440, Deutscher Bundestag Plenarprotokoll 16/219 vom 06.06.2009, S. 23916-23917. | 40 BT-Drs. 17/4042,
BR-Drs 241/12 from April 27, 2012. | 41 BVerfGE 105, 313, p. 346; regarding the legal discussion cf. Senatssverwaltung
für Arbeit, Integration und Frauen: § 175 StGB, Rehabilitierung der nach 1945 verurteilten homosexuellen Männer,
Dokumentation des Fachsymposiums am 17. Mai 2011 zum internationalen Tag gegen Homophobie im Festsaal des
Abgeordnetenhauses von Berlin und ergänzende Beiträge, Berlin 2012.
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