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In the nationwide MAGNUS-HIRSCHFELD-FOUNDATION coalition , lesbian and gay archives and research groups have joined forces. The coalition is asking the Federal Republic of Germany to establish a new MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD STIFTUNG as part of the collective compensation for the crimes the National Socialists committed against homosexual women and men. |
| On December 7, 2000 the German Bundestag unanimously asked the Federal Government to think about a collective form of compensation for the homosexual victims of the National-Socialist regime. The work of initiatives, 'which historically work on how the National Socialists persecuted homosexuals and how these victims were later dealt with', was particularly welcomed and supported by the Bundestag.
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| Up until now the Bundestag and the Federal Government have not financially supported lesbian and gay archives and research groups, which for years have concerned themselves with bringing back to memory the lives and achievements of homosexuals who were exterminated and destroyed by the Nazis. It was first through the work of these groups that the extent of the crimes came to the public's attention, and, because of these groups, these crimes will be held in memory. These groups maintain and preserve the cultural heritage of lesbians, gays and transsexuals.
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| The Institute for Sexual Science, which was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in 1919 and which did not stand far away from where today the chancellory stands, is a prime example of how lesbian and gay fortune was not compensated. Through scientific research and sexual-reform work the Institute tried to work against forms of sexual discrimination. It was a place for research and enlightenment with international dimensions and at the same time a place of refuge for many people who were persecuted because of their sexuality. In 1933, the National Socialists plundered the Institute, burnt portions of the library at Berlin's Opera Place and confiscated the buildings and property of the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Stiftung. A claim for compensation for the things of material and immaterial value, which the Institute put together before it was destroyed, was not honored, just as those claims of lesbian and gay publishing houses, subcultural establishments, etc. also were not.
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| With his theory of sexual transition, Magnus Hirschfeld stands for the right to sexual and gender diversity. At the same time, the questionable nature of both his biological approach and his eugenic thinking, as well as his unbroken faith in science and education serve as a reminder that the struggle for sexual human rights has to be fought anew every day.
Lesbian and gay archives and research groups research, preserve and maintain the cultural heritage of lesbians, gays and transsexuals. With their scientific, cultural and political work, they fight for sexual human rights just as Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute once did. Up to now in the nationwide MAGNUS-HIRSCHFELD-FOUNDATION coalition the following lesbian and gay archives and research groups have joined forces:
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| |  groups
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| The coalition is asking the Federal Republic of Germany to establish a new MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD STIFTUNG. The new institute should improve historical work on the persecution of homosexuals by the National Socialists and how these victims were later dealt with. It should also support the research, maintenance and memory of the cultural heritage of lesbians and gays.
The Federal Republic of Germany finally has to fulfill its political and moral responsibility for not having acknowledged the Institute's claim for compensation and provide the new Magnus Hirschfeld Stiftung with:
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| - A house, comparable to the Institute's previous buildings. The house should be used as a research and cultural center for sexual emancipation. Scientific and cultural projects, which support sexual minorities and speak out against discrimination, should have their own independent rooms. By fulfilling the coalition's request for a house in Berlin, memory receives a central place, which already existed in the 20's with the Institute for Sexual Science for gays, lesbians and transsexuals.
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| - Financial means (20 million DM): The future Magnus Hirschfeld Stiftung should be able to ensure the upkeep of Berlin's research and cultural centers as well as of other lesbian and gay archives in the country. Furthermore, support should be granted to sexual-scientific and sexual-political research projects whose subject matter is the fight for sexual human rights in a historical or contemporary perspective. |
| This claim for collective compensation in no way affects the urgent claims which all victims of National Socialism have made for years for necessary individual compensation and rehabilitation.
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