文摘
In Germany, the criminal sanctioning of homosexuality was established during the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, remained in force during the territorial fragmentation in Germany, the authoritarian empire and the Weimar Republic, became more rigorous during the totalitarian Nazi regime and was initially maintained in both the parliamentarian Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) as well as the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR). After this striking continuity, how can we explain that the decriminalization of homosexuality occurred nearly simultaneously in the FRG as well as the GDR at the end of the 1960s Using process tracing, the article reveals that the decriminalization in the FRG was due to an international process of individualization, whereas in the GDR, the decriminalization was mainly caused by the fact that the SED sought to legitimize its political power. Thus, the two different causal paths which led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in the FRG as well as the GDR provide a good example of equifinality.