The Nazi movement against homosexuality was aimed at the more than 1 million German men who, according to Adolph Hitler, demonstrated "degenerate behavior" that threatened the nation's "masculine character." Gay men were denounced as "antisocial parasites" and "enemies of the state," and were charged with corrupting public morality and posing a threat to the German birthrate. More than 100,000 men were arrested under a broadly interpreted law against homosexuality; approximately 50,000 men served prison terms as convicted homosexuals, some 5,000 to 15,000 men were sentenced to concentration camps, and an unknown number were institutionalized in mental hospitals. These Holocaust victims are honored in Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945, a traveling exhibit of photos, illustrations and text from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. A wine and cheese reception takes place from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thurs., Aug. 31, with an 8 p.m. lecture by Geoffrey Giles, a University of Florida history professor and an expert on the subject of homosexuality during the Third Reich ($8 general/free to members). Through Oct. 15, Florida Holocaust Museum, 55 Fifth St. S., St. Petersburg, $8 general/$7 seniors and students/$4 ages 18 and younger, 727-820-0100, www.flholocaustmuseum.org.
This article appears in Aug 30 – Sep 5, 2006.
