'Adultery contrary to nature'

Legal persecution of 'adultery with persons of the same sex' in Austria from the 1930ies to the 1950ies

Abstract

The article is based on the analysis of more than 2.000 case stories of same sex acts. Although the 'Anschluss' of 1938 marks a significant rise in the persecution of 'homosexuals', Austria has its own - hardly acknowledged - continuity in the persecution of same sex acts stretching from the First to the Second Republic. What was actually meant by 'homosexuality' in this context and how it manifested itself in the act of "adultery" was the result of negotiations in court, involving presiding judges, consulting medical doctors and the accused themselves. The persecution of women, alltogether not more than five percent of all cases, exhibits quite different patterns of persecution, which reflect gender relations in general.