The Institut Für Sexualwissenschaft Was Run By Magnus Hirschfeld, Who Had His German Citizenship Revoked

Online-Veranstaltung zu Banned Books am Welttag des Buches

Gemeinsam mit der Kommission für Queere Hochschulpolitik der bukof (Bundeskonferenz der Frauen- und Gleichstellungsbeauftragten an Hochschulen) organisieren die Queerbrarians (eine Netzwerk queerer Librarians) ein queeres Online-Event zum World Book Day.

Nach einem einführenden Vortrag auf Deutsch von mir sprechen Eve & Lucie auf Englisch. Sie kämpfen gegen die Book Bans in ihrem County in Tennessee.

Das Event ist kostenfrei und braucht keine Anmeldung. Alle Interessierten sind herzlich willkommen.

Titel: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Datum: 23. April 2025

Uhrzeit: 16:30 bis 18:00 Uhr

Flyer & Infos

Most Ardently

How can you better the future, if you continue mimicking the past.

Oh, the irony of posting this quote in these times. How can A Pride & Prejudice Remix be so relevant today? I'm deeply concerned for my friends and all the people who are being targeted in the United States at this very moment. Over here, I'm afraid I'm looking at our past and our future at the same time when I see you and what you're facing right now.

More than anything else, this was what he wanted. To be himself, in the open, unabashedly.

That's all we want. How can we be a threat by being ourselves?

And what kind of life could one have with a crushed soul?

I don't know, but it feels like the world is trying really hard to crush our souls at the moment.

[...] you’re a different person when you’re permitted to be yourself. You’re so much more at ease, so much happier. [...] your entire demeanor is more authentic.

Because our souls aren't crushed when we can be who we are.

Novoa, G. C. (2024). Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix. Feiwel & Friends.

Do good for its own sake. Do well out of spite. ✨🌈

My new motto for the fascist era.

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons

Which lesson would you like to know more about?

Do not obey in advance.

Defend institutions.

Beware the one-party state.

Take responsibility for the face of the world.

Remember professional ethics.

Be wary of paramilitaries.

Be reflective if you must be armed.

Stand out.

Be kind to our language.

Believe in truth.

Investigate.

Make eye contact and small talk.

Practice corporeal politics.

Establish a private life.

Contribute to good causes.

Learn from peers in other countries.

Listen for dangerous words.

Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.

Be a patriot.

Be as courageous as you can.

Snyder, T. (2017). On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. Crown.

Mäßigungsgebot

Auch etwas, mit dem man sich mal beschäftigen sollte.

Mimicry of Marginality in Soft Authoritarian Identity Politics

In the past few decades, far-right parties have successfully implemented their authoritarian and nativist ideologies in the center of public discourse (...) In this process of normalization, the lines between far-right and mainstream discourse have been blurred (...) to the point that »ideas and viewpoints once considered deviant and morally repugnant« are »confidently asserted as the new common sense« (...).

Everything has shifted. With every word, with every tweet, with every provocation, the things that can be said and considered moderate shift further to the far-right.

Steinhauer, H. (2023). Mimicry of Marginality in Soft Authoritarian Identity Politics. Zeitschrift für Diskursforschung, 2. https://doi.org/10.3262/ZFD2302143

So Harvard has decided not to give in without a fight

"No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue," said Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, in a statement to the university on Monday.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/14/us/harvard-trump-reject-demands.html

This is a powerful and much-needed statement. Academia feels a glimmer of hope that not every university and not everyone in academia will give in without a fight. At the same time, the reasons are more strategic than simply protecting science, students, faculty and academic freedom.

Why Harvard Decided to Fight Trump

[...] any path the university chose seemed just as likely to lead to ongoing turmoil, and [...] officials at Harvard, [...] feared the White House would renege on any agreement.

[...] a strategy of "negotiation and conciliation seems to have no acceptable ending point."

[...] Harvard might have tried to negotiate just as Columbia did, "if it had assurance that the administration was negotiating in good faith."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/us/why-harvard-resisted-trumps-demands.html

There is no faith, no trust in the permanence of anything at this point. No decision, no agreement, no law is immutable, even for the shortest time, if the administration decides to change its mind. The ultimate goal is to dismantle academia anyway. So why even try to negotiate.

(un)related

[...] most German conservatives (with some honorable exceptions) swallowed their doubts about the Nazis in favor of their overriding common interests.

Why did this quote come to my mind today?

Each generation of scholars of fascism has noted that the regimes rested upon some kind of pact or alliance between the fascist party and powerful conservative forces.

Paxton, R. O. (2004). The Anatomy of Fascism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

(un)related to these quotes

Have you heard about that?

[Conservative party] ends longstanding boycott on cooperating with far-right party

The so-called Brandmauer fell today and that was no surprise.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/29/german-immigration-motion-passes-breaking-taboo-on-cooperation-with-afd

Update

They changed the title and the subtitle. The subtitle now reads:

[The leader of the conservative party] accused of breaking longstanding political firewall against far-right populists

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons: Most of it is quite self-explanatory. But elaborate on #12.

12. Make eye contact and small talk.

This lesson is so simple and human that it hits me every time I think about it. Snyder gives a straightforward definition, which I will quote at the end of this post, but he also links this lesson to people who have lived through tyranny.

[...] memoirs of their victims all share a single tender moment. [...] people who were living in fear of repression remembered how their neighbors treated them. A smile, a handshake, or a word of greeting [...] took on great significance. When friends, colleagues, and acquaintances looked away or crossed the street to avoid contact, fear grew. You might not be sure, today or tomorrow, who feels threatened [...]. But if you affirm everyone, you can be sure that certain people will feel better.

When I think about it, making small gestures like this also makes me feel a little less afraid. So making a small gesture - whatever gesture fits your personal style - makes those who need it feel better.

Snyder's definition is this:

This is not just polite. It is part of being a citizen and a responsible member of society. It is also a way to stay in touch with your surroundings, break down social barriers, and understand whom you should and should not trust. If we enter a culture of denunciation, you will want to know the psychological landscape of your daily life.

Librarians

As a librarian working to preserve and disseminate knowledge and books, I hope that in the future people will enjoy finding everything we've saved and learning about all the people who didn't obey in advance and how.

Very grateful for the librarians.