The Lives of Older Lesbians: Sexuality, Identity & the Life Course

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To encourage Aryan procreation, the Nazis adopted a variety of programs and laws. One example is the Lebensborn program. It encouraged Aryan women to have many children, even outside of marriage. At the same time, the Nazi regime tried to prohibit or limit the procreation of other supposedly inferior groups. In July 1933, a new law mandated sterilization of people with supposedly hereditary disabilities. Other laws, such as the 1935 Nuremberg Laws , defined who could have sex with whom. Lesbians responded to these new fears and conditions in different ways. Not all lesbians made the same decisions. Nor did they all have the same choices. For example, Aryan lesbians had far more options than Jewish or Romani lesbians, who—above all — faced persecution for racial reasons.

In lesbian prisoners’ paperwork, camp authorities usually listed a racial, political, social, or criminal reason as the primary cause for their arrest. In a few cases, the authorities also noted their sexuality.The archive now includes more than 800 recorded interviews and is being preserved in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, an all-women’s college in Massachusetts. The interviews were recorded on audio tapes and were then transcribed and put together with photos and other supporting documents. Filmmaker Meghan McDonough, left, and cinematographer and photographer Rengim Mutevellioglu at Smith College Special Collections in Northampton, Mass., with tapes from the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project. Rengim Mutevellioglu

The film chronicles Colette's rise to fame as she leaves behind her country upbringing to become the toast of Paris along with her husband, Willy (Dominic West), who spurs her to chronicle her life for his literary factory where only his moniker appears on everything that's published. Yet, denunciations could cause unwanted scrutiny for lesbians. Sometimes a denunciation led the police to discover criminal offenses. For example, it could reveal ties to a resistance organization, friendship with Jews, or subversive political behavior. In those cases, women could be arrested and sent to concentration camps. The Case of Elli Smula and Margarete Rosenberg

Public discussions of sexuality had occurred in Germany since the late 19th century. However, the social atmosphere during the Weimar Republic created more space for these conversations. There were discussions about homosexuality at the time. 1 Physician and sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld and others organized gay and lesbian “friendship leagues” ( Freundschaftsverbände ), which also included heterosexual members. These groups advocated for the decriminalization of sexual relations between men. In this endeavor, they found allies on the political left and center. Among the supporters were: LOAF’s mission statement described it as a “social networking and support group for women 50 years of age and older, and their partners, whatever their age.” About a decade after the group’s founding, when some members’ health began declining, Eversmeyer was compelled to preserve her friends’ life stories before they were lost forever. Before, during, and after the Nazi regime, men accused of homosexuality were prosecuted under Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code. This statute criminalized sexual relations between men. It did not apply to sexual relations between women. Nonetheless, beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime harassed and destroyed lesbian communities and networks that had developed during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933). This created a climate of restriction and fear for many lesbians.

Over the course of the 1930s, Nazi actions targeting male homosexuality became more systematically oppressive. In 1935, the Nazi regime reformed Paragraph 175. The statute now criminalized any and all sexual intimacy between men. The Nazis also increased the severity of the punishment for these crimes. They instructed prosecutors to argue for harsh sentences in court. Judges often complied. Part revenge tale and part redemption song, Lizzie took years for indie darling Chloe Sevigny ( Boys Don't Cry, Big Love, Love and Friendship) and out writer Bryce Kass to shepherd to the screen. Although there were several iterations along the way, the final version of the film about the ax killer from the tiny town of Fall River, Mass., couldn't have come at a timelier moment. A film that shares a lineage with the queer true crime-based films of the '90s like Heavenly Creatures and Sister My Sister, Lizzie is a fresh take on the "murderous lesbians'" trope. The movie also fits right in with the #MeToo era, with Lizzie and her maid/love interest/co-conspirator Bridget (Kristen Stewart) literally bashing toxic masculinity in the face. Kucharczyk, 75, said she appreciated that the goal of the OLOHP was not to sensationalize the women’s stories but to simply preserve them. When she was 68, Eversmeyer interviewed her for the project and began training her as an interviewer. Like McDonough, Kucharczyk said she believes LGBTQ young people must learn about the history of their elders, especially in today’s political climate. Faderman came out while living in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, after she attended the University of California, Berkeley, for her undergraduate degree.

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Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Soon afterwards, Germany’s gay and lesbian communities came under pressure and scrutiny from the new regime. For men accused of homosexuality, this worsened over the course of the 1930s. They faced brutal persecution. Shutting Down Lesbian and Gay Meeting Places In the office, nothing changed. Both of us swore not to tell anyone else. I dodged questions from friends about my relationship status like bullets - the lies were worth it for the delirium I felt when I was with her. Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.