The GLBTRT has been reviewing books and movies in its newsletter since the early 1990s. Trace the evolution of queer publishing through these historic reviews. This review was originally published in Vol. 4, No. 3, Fall 1992.
This book is the culmination of a project which started in 1978 when Jurgen Lemke started interviewing homosexual men who lived in what was once referred to as East Germany. The German language edition was published in 1989, but the English translations were not completed until after the Berlin Wall was opened.
Though the country no longer exists, the interviews provide much insight into the lives of gay men who were living in the German Democratic Republic. Three groups of GDR’s citizens from the 1980’s are profiled in the book, in nearly equal proportions: gay men who were born before, during and after World War II.
By the very nature of living to talk about their lives in the 1980’s, each of these men discuss their unique set of survival skills – coping with the oppression of a fascist regime under Hitler, coping with the restrictions of a Communist regime, coping with the tight housing and employment markets in East Germany, in addition to struggling through life itself within the framework of a heterosexist European culture.
The individuals who were interviewed discuss the lighter and darker sides of their lives, including the anguish and joys which arose from relationships with their families, lovers, neighbors, colleagues and the society at large.
Even though women are absent from this book, it
still provides a cross-sectional look at gay studies in Europe which is not available elsewhere.
Reviewed by Gary M. Klein
University of Toledo
Toledo, OH
