Great, short article on #LGBTQ life in 1920s Berlin - a time when queer folks of all flavours, from working-class to academic, were negotiating identities and concepts, creating spaces and words, and publishing everything from newspapers to academic treatises. #queerhistory https://twitter.com/rls_history/status/1266634470339366913

My personal favourites are the magazines of the 1920s-early 30s published by mostly working-class lesbians. They featured news, announcements, historical articles, summaries of academic debates on homosexuality & what was called "transvestism", letters & tons of amateur fiction.

Interesting bit of trivia: In the late 20s, these publications were banned for a while, since they fell under a strict "anti-smut" law, for which none other than Gertrud Bäumer had been a driving force - ministerial council in charge of youth welfare & life partner of a woman.

And my favourite protagonist: Lotte Hahm, who identified as a homosexual woman and transvestite. (Note: The article says cross-dressing was easier for women because men's clothing was fashionable for them, but this only applied to artists' & privileged circles. Working-class...

... women could generally not wear trousers to work; the magazines are full of letters to the editors in which readers discussed how to comply with dress codes & still be able to express themselves & feel somewhat comfortable. Shirtwaist, necktie, skirt was often the compromise.)

Lastly, my favourite bit about the 1920s: terminology was fluent. Homosexual, uranian, lesbian, transvestite, third sex - here was a great desire to name oneself & be named, even though the jury was still out as to *what* one wished to be called.