What is considered nudity anyway?
Our YouTube channel was blocked at the beginning of June. The reason? Alleged "nudity". This type of blocking often raises the question of queer censorship. One could discuss here what the depiction of nudity actually means. Is it simply bare skin, for example a video of cheerful men without tops, enjoying their company but not engaging in any sexual activity? Or is an image only categorised as pornographic when genitals are visible, regardless of the context? Is nudity always a bad thing or can it also serve good purposes?
The fact that such questions have to be asked in 2025 is the best illustration of how far society has fallen behind as a result of the shift to the right in recent years. Make no mistake: it is no coincidence that this move comes at a time when right-wing and far-right discourse is increasing dramatically and US corporations - our supposed "allies" - are unmasking themselves under the influence of Donald Trump's anti-"woke" policies. As soon as a different political wind blows and support is no longer worthwhile, the big players like Meta and Alphabet show their true colours. They have never been serious about the rights of LGBTIQ+ people, they just wanted to make money out of it. The fact that what is defined as a breach of policy primarily affects diversity endeavours - including queer education and prevention work - is symptomatic.
Apart from the fact that nudity is simply aesthetic - as the artists of antiquity already knew - it has often played an activist and political role in modern history. The fight against nudity (both real and perceived) in any form is just as old. In the following article, parallels will be drawn between today's queer movement and the first German queer movement (ca. 1897-1933). The context may be different, but the challenges are anything but new.
The beginnings of a struggle for self-determination
Modern queer activism originated in Germany in the late nineteenth century. The primarily journalistic activity of the early pioneer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825-1895) strongly influenced his later comrades-in-arms. Nevertheless, Ulrichs published his writings under the pseudonym "Numa Numantius", as the consequences of an affirmative treatment of homosexuality could have been serious.
Another queer pioneer was influenced by Ulrichs, namely Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935), co-founder of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (WhK) and editor of its organ, the "Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen". In 1919, he founded the Institute for Sexual Science, the first globally recognised queer educational institution, which was plundered soon after the Nazis came to power. What set Hirschfeld apart from other leaders of the "homosexual" movement was his inclusivity towards different forms of queerness and different social groups: "aunties", effeminate men, masculine women, trans* people and sex workers.
Explicit male prostitution was a central point of contention in the queer activist milieu of the time. Under the leadership of Friedrich Radszuweit, the Bund für Menschenrecht (BfM), the leading and largest queer umbrella organisation in Germany from 1923, acted according to the guiding principle of "respectability", which sacrificed solidarity with "indecent" queers. The Gemeinschaft der Eigenen (GdE), founded in 1903, on the other hand, was an all-male grouping of elitist and conservative anti-feminists who only saw women in a subordinate role as mothers and house carers.
The battle with "lewd writings"
Despite his problematic ideological stance, Adolf Brand (1874-1945), co-founder and long-time director of the GdE, also made some contributions to queer emancipation. According to current knowledge, the magazine "Der Eigene", which he published irregularly from 1896, is the first homosexual magazine in the world, even if it was aimed at a more upscale (and implicitly male) readership. As "Der Eigene" often contained images of naked men and thus violated Section 184 (sale and distribution of "lewd" writings), Brand had to stand trial several times and even serve prison sentences. Incidentally, the "Jahrbuch für sexuelle Zwischenstufen", a scientific publication, was spared a similar fate.
It should be noted here that many of the photos in "Der Eigene" are actually very problematic, even from today's perspective, because they often depict naked boys and teenagers. This was thematised, among other things, in the exhibition "Coming to terms: Sexualised violence against children and young people in the context of emancipation" in the Gay Museum at the end of 2023 and beginning of 2024.
After the Weimar Constitution came into force in 1919, queer emancipation developed into a mass movement. This was made possible by the publication of the magazine "Die Freundschaft", which networked queer people throughout Germany and initiated the founding of local "friendship associations". However, the editorial team had to reckon with inconvenience right from the start: A report was made to the authorities within the first few weeks. Although the editor Karl Schultz was acquitted in March 1920 of the charge of offending morality under § 184, a year later he was sentenced to six weeks in prison.
This time the offence was procuring. How was this charge justified? The decisive factor was the adverts, i.e. personal adverts, which encouraged queer people to get to know each other and possibly - according to the court's reasoning - also sexual contact. Consequently, they disappeared from the magazine and were now only available as part of a subscription to a separate extra sheet.
Preservation of youth
In February 1923, the legal problems of "Die Freundschaft" returned. In the course of renewed censorship proceedings, the magazine was suspended by the authorities for three months. In 1926, the Reichstag passed the law "for the protection of youth from obscene and dirty writings", in the creation of which the Christian "morality associations" played a key role. It introduced a list of obscene writings that included not only queer literature and on which individual editions could be placed. A corresponding entry meant that the respective edition could not be displayed publicly, but could only be sold on request (i.e. under the counter, so to speak). As the name of the law suggests, this was justified by the protection of minors.
Several issues of queer magazines, including "Frauenliebe" in 1927 and "Die Insel" in 1928, made it onto the list. A common counter-strategy was to sell the magazine under a different title so as not to interrupt the continuity of issues. In 1928-29, for example, "Die Freundin" was sold as "Ledige Frauen" after the former had been placed on the list. Sometimes individual newsagents got into difficulties without knowing about the ban on individual issues.
Other facets of censorship
Novels and films also fell victim to censorship. One example is Walter Homann's Diary of a male bridewhich was inspired by the story of the self-proclaimed "Comtesse" (or countess) Dina Alma de Paradeda. The novel was even censored twice (in 1907 and 1928). Even though both trials ended favourably for the book, the great furore surrounding its publication led to the most controversial material being cut in subsequent editions.
The first German film and one of the first in the world to address homosexuality - Richard Oswald's Different from the others -, was banned in August 1920, over a year after its premiere. Although the production is about the same-sex love between a musician and his adult pupil, there is hardly any affection in the film, let alone a kiss. Nevertheless, the film caused huge controversy and there were protests against its broadcast in many cities across Germany.
Hirschfeld, who played a key role in the film and had already been exposed to hostility in the past due to his work, became the arch-enemy of the extreme right as a result of the controversy. He was attacked several times, in October 1920 in Munich so badly that some newspapers prematurely announced his death. Some of his lectures were cancelled with explicit reference to his involvement in the film, others degenerated into riots with the use of stink bombs and fireworks.
Another form of "censorship" and intimidation that deserves its own article is the police surveillance of queer meeting places. In cities such as Dresden, Chemnitz, Munich and Hanover, queers were even registered and interrogated in the 1920s. Raids were not uncommon either: on 2 July 1921, for example, a party organised by the Görlitz Friendship Association at the Hotel Namenlos was interrupted by a local police operation. A total of 23 people were arrested and detained until 12 noon the next day, two of them even for a day longer. The charge was pimping, but in the end no charges were brought.
Technological repression
Today, of course, we live in a different world and enjoy significantly more acceptance and rights than our queer ancestors. But it is precisely these that are increasingly being called into question, jeopardising the achievements of the struggles of the last sixty years. Against this backdrop, the alliance between the far right and large technology companies seems all the more frightening.
What was openly and aggressively combated by the authorities a hundred years ago as fornication, a violation of morality or in the name of protecting minors is now being tackled much more subtly and seemingly harmlessly. Under the guise of "community guidelines", "safe" or "advertiser-friendly content", queer content, safer sex education and HIV prevention are censored. Some forms of censorship, such as shadow banning or age restrictions, are not immediately recognisable and are therefore much less visible. In addition, decisions on the authorisation of online content are increasingly being made by algorithms rather than humans.
In the worst-case scenario, this can cost lives. Queer young people in particular need access to information that not only educates them about sexual health, but also protects them from feelings of inferiority or even suicidal thoughts. HIV prevention and queer education work must not fall victim to the algorithm regime under any circumstances.
Whenever there are warnings about the dangers of the increasing right-wing radicalisation of society and the possibility of a far-right government, many people say: "It won't be that bad." A hundred years ago, the prospect of Adolf Hitler coming to power was played down in the same way. A few years ago, the risk of political data misuse by US big tech companies also seemed unlikely and was trivialised by many. Today, we can no longer be so sure.
Bibliography
Beachy, Robert. Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity. 2014. New York City: Vintage Books, 2015.
Foit, Mathias. Queer Urbanisms in Wilhelmine and Weimar Germany: Of Towns and Villages. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023.
Dobler, Jens. "Epilogue." In Diary of a male brideed. Dobler, 154-175, Hamburg: Männerschwarm Verlag, 2010.
—. Police and homosexuals in the Weimar Republic: On the construction of the scapegoat. Berlin: Metropol Verlag, 2020.
-"Censorship of books and magazines with homosexual themes in the Weimar Republic." Invertito - Yearbook for the history of homosexuality 2 (2000): 85-104.
Malakaj, Ervin. Different from the others. Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2023.
Micheler, Stefan. Magazines, associations and clubs for same-sex desiring people in the Weimar Republic. Stefan Micheler Homepage. August 1, 2008. www.StefanMicheler.de/zvlggbm/stm_zvlggbm.pdf.
Vendrell, Javier Samper. The Seduction of Youth: Print Culture and Homosexual Rights in the Weimar Republic. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020.
More on the topic of censorship & visibility
Press report:
YouTube deletes gay prevention channel - just in time for Pride Month
Statement from IWWIT:
Our IWWIT YouTube channel has been deleted
