In late 1980s East Berlin, the LGBTQ+ community experienced a period of paradoxical “liberalization” and continued state surveillance, with the government making some concessions while the Stasi monitored and infiltrated activist groups. The state allowed organizations like the Sonntags-Club to form, equalized the age of consent for same-sex and heterosexual acts, and produced the film Coming Out, yet the secret police continued their surveillance to prevent the emergence of an autonomous political movement.
(from google thus the ‘paradoxical’ framing)
I maybe getting a couple of things conflated but I think the Sonntag club in east berlin, despite the org running it being persecuted during the 70’s, latter in the 80’s the persecution ended and their club was given state backing needed to exist
And obviously while not being perfect; compared to capitalist Nazi staffed and influenced West Germany, where certain homosexual acts were put-you-in prison illegal until as late as '94 even post-reunification, shows the stark difference between the two entities
Further reading about this topic can be found in States of Liberation: Gay Men Between Dictatorship and Democracy in Cold War Germany, which is by the same author. It can be found on Anna’s Archive here: https://annas-archive.org/md5/1ca0f695f42518c99d1c53051b2468fc
Were can I learn about these “state run gay bars”?
(from google thus the ‘paradoxical’ framing)
I maybe getting a couple of things conflated but I think the Sonntag club in east berlin, despite the org running it being persecuted during the 70’s, latter in the 80’s the persecution ended and their club was given state backing needed to exist
And obviously while not being perfect; compared to capitalist Nazi staffed and influenced West Germany, where certain homosexual acts were put-you-in prison illegal until as late as '94 even post-reunification, shows the stark difference between the two entities
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/gay-liberation-behind-iron-curtain/ Here’s an article about it
Further reading about this topic can be found in States of Liberation: Gay Men Between Dictatorship and Democracy in Cold War Germany, which is by the same author. It can be found on Anna’s Archive here: https://annas-archive.org/md5/1ca0f695f42518c99d1c53051b2468fc