Paragraph 183

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1939 Nazi Imperial Law publication of Section 183

Paragraph 183 (known formally as §183 StGB; also known as Section 183 in English) is a public indecency law of the German Criminal Code, which prohibits "sexual self-determination" and public exhibitionism.[1] From its adoption in 1871, at an increasing rate during the rise of the Nazis, and until as late as the mid-20th century, the law was used to enforce penalties (including imprisonment, and, at times, loss of civil rights) for cross-dressing and homosexual acts.[2][3][4] As of 2021, the law's scope is limited to indecent exposure.[2]

Historical overview[edit]

Paragraph 183 was first adopted in 1871. At the time of the law's adoption, it referred to penalties for "anyone who publicly causes a nuisance by a lewd act" with imprisonment of "up to two years." In the earliest versions of the law, the loss of civil rights was also a consequence of breaking the law.[2]

The statute drew legal influence from previous measures, including those undertaken by the Holy Roman Empire and Prussian states. The Nazis expanded enforcement of the law in the 1930s as part of the most severe persecution of homosexual men in history.

Historians Laurie Marhoefer of the University of Washington and W. Jake Newsome of Cornell University have argued that transgender people were a target of Nazi persecution through enforcement of the law, citing instances of charges against cross-dressing.[5][1]

According to Marheofer, one notable instance of Paragraph 183 enforcement during the 1940s involved a self-identified transvestite, who was later murdered in Buchenwald concentration camp after a series of Paragraph 183 and Paragraph 175 convictions.[5]

Enforcement and revisions[edit]

See also: Transvestite pass
Transvestite certificate issued in 1928 to prevent arrest under Paragraph 183[1][6][7]

Historically, the enforcement of Paragraph 183 has varied from locality to locality. In the more tolerant and progressive locality of Berlin, between 1919 and 1933, Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Science issued transvestite certificates in partnership with the Berlin Police Department, which served as a form of identification that could protect transgender individuals from arrest and prosecution under Paragraph 183.[8][9][10][1]

Provisions of Paragraph 183 have remained in effect since its 1871 adoption, but it has been amended and modified several times to change the nature of the law and its scope (1876, 1939, 1969, 1973, 1998, 2008, 2015, 2021), now solely referring to indecent exposure.[2] The most recent version of Paragraph 183 (adopted in 2021) stipulates that "A man [or woman] who harasses another person by an exhibitionistic act shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding one year or with a fine."[2]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Newsome, W. Jake (15 September 2022). Pink Triangle Legacies: Coming Out in the Shadow of the Holocaust. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-6550-6.
  2. ^ a b c d e "§ 183 StGB. Exhibitionistische Handlungen". lexetius.com. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Background on the Weimar Republic". weimar-project.page. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Nazi Laws On Sexual Deviancy". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Paper: Trans Identities and "Cross Dressing" in Nazi Germany: Trans People as a Discrete Target of State Violence (134th Annual Meeting (January 3-6, 2020))". aha.confex.com. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  6. ^ Jander, Thomas (23 July 2019). "What's that for? A Licence to Be (Different) – Deutsches Historisches Museum: Blog". Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  7. ^ Taylor, Michael T.; Timm, Annette; Herrn, Rainer (30 October 2017). Not Straight from Germany: Sexual Publics and Sexual Citizenship Since Magnus Hirschfeld. University of Michigan Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-472-13035-1. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. ^ Gershon, Livia (18 November 2018). "Gender Identity in Weimar Germany". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  9. ^ Sutton, Katie (2012). ""We Too Deserve a Place in the Sun": The Politics of Transvestite Identity in Weimar Germany". German Studies Review. 35 (2): 335–354. ISSN 0149-7952. JSTOR 23269669.
  10. ^ Frost, Natasha (2 November 2017). "The Early 20th-Century ID Cards That Kept Trans People Safe From Harassment". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 19 July 2019.

Further reading[edit]

  • Huneke, Samuel Clowes (2022). States of Liberation: Gay Men between Dictatorship and Democracy in Cold War Germany. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4875-4213-9.
  • Jellonnek, Burkhard (1990). Homosexuelle unter dem Hakenkreuz : die Verfolgung von Homosexuellen im Dritten Reich [Homosexuals under the Swastika: the Pursuit of Homosexuals in the Third Reich] (in German). Paderborn. ISBN 3-506-77482-4. OCLC 24286084.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Newsome, W. Jake (2022). Pink triangle legacies coming out in the shadow of the Holocaust. Ithaca, New York. ISBN 978-1-5017-6549-0. OCLC 1309074625.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links[edit]

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