The Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Schwules Museum* present the exhibition “Homosexuality_ies” from 26 June to 1 December 2015, jointly funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Cultural Foundation of the German Laender. Covering a total area of 1600 square meters, “Homosexuality_ies” documents 150 years of the history, politics and culture of homosexual women and men in Germany. The exhibition shows how same-sex sexuality and non-conformist gender identities have been criminalized through legislation, pathologized in medicine and excluded from society. It traces the legislative development of Paragraph 175 of the German penal code, which made “homosexual acts” punishable by law. Paragraph 175 took effect in 1872, underwent massive harshening in the Nazi era and was retained thereafter, being definitively voided in 1994. In addition to social repression, the exhibition also addresses the liberation movements of gay men and lesbian women, movements which took on a new dynamic after the legal liberalization in the 1960ies and transformed society‘s understanding of sex and gender identity.
Works by international artists such as Monica Bonvicini, Louise Bourgeois, Heather Cassils, Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset, Nicole Eisenman, Lotte Laserstein, Lee Lozano, Jeanne Mammen, Zanele Muholi, Henrik Olesen and Andy Warhol comment on the exhibition‘s themes in a variety of ways.
The section of the exhibition on view at the Deutsches Historisches Museum focuses on historical developments in the fields of society, politics, art, law and science since the “discovery” of homosexuality in the mid-19th century. The section of the exhibition on view at the Schwules Museum* consists of contemporary artworks and addresses the present and future of gender codes and sexualities.