Sexual provocation – Magnus Hirschfeld and gender

Anyone following the current debate on transgender issues might get the impression that transgender people are a recent invention. However, an early transgender movement existed over 100 years ago. This included the first transgender people to undergo gender reassignment surgery.

An important supporter is involved in this: the sexual pioneer and activist Magnus Hirschfeld. He campaigns for the recognition of queer people and, to this end, founds the world's first Institute for Sexual Science in 1919. His motto: Justice through science. Hirschfeld believes that only transgender people themselves can determine their gender and campaigns for the right to change their name.

This puts him far ahead of his time. Only today do many European countries have corresponding laws in place. In Germany, for example, the Self-Determination Act has allowed people to choose their own first name and gender entry since the end of 2024. The law has sparked a heated debate: who and what defines a person's gender?

Even 100 years ago, queer people were at the centre of a cultural struggle. Hirschfeld's recognition of gender diversity and his fight for the decriminalisation of homosexuality made him a public enemy. In 1920, he was beaten up after a lecture in Munich and declared dead. But Hirschfeld survived and continued his work – until the growing National Socialists gained more and more power. Hirschfeld fled into exile and was forced to stand by and watch as Nazis looted and vandalised his institute. It was the end of the liberal spirit of the Weimar era.

In the film ‘Sexual Provocation – Magnus Hirschfeld and Gender,’ director Miguel Kaluza explores the history of the sexual pioneer and seeks to understand why sexual and gender diversity continues to provoke such strong reactions. Are we facing a backlash today similar to that in Hirschfeld's time?