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Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code made homosexual acts between males criminal. -
Magnus Hirschfeld, founder of the Institute of Sex Research, coins the term "transsexual." He begins to develop gender affirmation surgeries and work alongside the Berlin police to protect "cross-dressers." -
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Gay organizations were banned, books written at the Institute of Sex Research were burned, Gestapo compiled lists of suspected homosexuals, and gay Nazis were purged from the party. -
Hitler, Goring and Himmler order executions of members of the Nazis and the German military. The primary target of these purges Ernst Rohm, a prominent member of the Nazi party and known homosexual. Many Nazis purged during and after the Night of the Long Knives were falsely accused of being homosexuals. -
Punishment under Paragraph 175 extended to 5 years imprisonment. Homosexuality expanded from sexual acts to include any act in which "the general sense of shame was offended" or "the intention was present to excite desire in one of the two men." Being persecuted as a homosexual no longer required physical contact between two men.
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Gestapo issue a directive that men convicted of homosexuality could be placed in concentration camps. Gay prisoners were identified by a large pink triangle patch, and were segregated from other prisoners to "prevent the spread of homosexuality to other inmates and guards." -
The Nazis Surrender and the camps are liberated. Many gay prisoners destroyed their pink triangles. Gay prisoners who were caught were placed in Soviet camps, or charged under existing anti-gay laws. -
The Supreme Court of East Germany ruled that Paragraph 175 was unconstitutional. West Germany removed the law in 1969.
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German lawmakers formally remove the convictions of gay men sentenced for homosexuality under Paragraph 175.