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# Germany compensating LGBTQ+ people affected by historic anti-gay law
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/germany-compensating-lgbtq-people-affected-by-historic-anti-gay-law/
- Published: 2021-09-17T13:14:21.000Z
- Updated: 2021-09-16T15:43:11.000Z
- Description: Germany offering compensation to 249 people who faced persecution under a 1871 law that criminalised same-sex relationships between men.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, gay, Germany, history, LGBTQ, LGBTQ+ history, Stonewall, UK

The German Office of Justice has announced that it will be offering compensation to 249 people who faced persecution under a 1871 law that criminalised same-sex relationships between men. Although the law was first instated under King Wilhelm I, it became strictly enforced by Adolf Hitler in 1933, who also [amended the law](https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/revision-of-paragraph-175?ref=scenemag.co.uk) to make even suspected homosexuality punishable by imprisonment. It is estimated that 90,000 LGBTQ+ men were arrested between 1937 and 1939, and were castrated under the law.

The law was officially repealed 27 years ago. According to the [*Associated Press*](https://apnews.com/article/europe-germany-44a3481383fdaee98a55079ed436cc2e?ref=scenemag.co.uk), 317 applied for compensation, with 249 applicants qualifying for a payment while 14 applications are still being processed. So far, the Office of Justice has paid out around €860,000\. Victims are entitled to €3,000 per conviction, €500 for each time they were investigated, €1,500 for every year they sat in custody and €1,500 for every year of imprisonment.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/lgbt-pride-rainbow-600.jpg)

In the UK, thousands of men convicted of homosexuality before 1967 were posthumously pardoned [in 2017](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/31/uk-issues-posthumous-pardons-thousands-gay-men-alan-turing-law?ref=scenemag.co.uk), with living victims still able to have their records altered. A Stonewall spokesperson highlighted the significance of the pardon, saying: *“The more equality is enshrined into our law books, the stronger our equality becomes, and the stronger we as a community become.”*