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Directed by Michael Almereyda (“Twister”) and starring Elina Löwensohn as Nadja and Peter Fonda as Van Helsing, this ’90s arthouse horror features a David Lynch cameo as a morgue attendant. Lynch also lends his name as executive producer. The Nazis believed that German women had a special task to perform: motherhood. According to Nazi logic, lesbians were women and should thus be mothers. They had a responsibility to give birth to racially pure Germans, called “ Aryans .”
Some women engaged in sexual relations with their fellow female prisoners. It is important to note that such relations do not always fit neatly within the category of “lesbianism.” This is because not all women who engaged in same-sex relations were lesbians. Some women developed same-sex relationships and later described them as a source of comfort in the camps. Others even saw them as necessary for survival.Marking the first time the lesbian vampire appears onscreen, Universal Pictures was well aware that its “Dracula” sequel had sapphic overtones. In “The Celluloid Closet,” gay film historian Vito Russo noted the studio stoked the flames in its initial marketing. Russo also cites the film as an early example of the (albeit negative) predatory homosexual trope. Prolific Spanish filmmakerJesús Franco was known for stylish exploitation films, and cast his favorite leading lady Soledad Miranda (billed as Susann Korda)in what would be the fourth of eight collaborations between the two. Franco transposed Bram Stoker’s short story “Dracula’s Guest” to 1970s Istanbul, where Dracula’s heir sets her sights on American lawyer Linda (Ewa Strömberg).
Sexual relations between women were taboo for much of German society. Neighbors, family members, and friends sometimes disapproved of and thus denounced the women involved to the police. It is possible they did not realize that sexual relations between women were not illegal. In some of these cases, the police dismissed the complaints because they had no legal basis. Mexican cult horror directorJuan López Moctezuma castCristina Ferrare, later a top TV host, as a bisexual artist who visits Mexico with a bloodthirsty mission. The film stars John Carradine as her estranged vampire father, and features cinematography byMiguel Garzón (“Highway Patrolman,”“Red Dawn”). Perhaps it’s trite to say that “representation matters,” but some things are cliché because they’re true. The first time I ever saw lesbians onscreen was when my high school’s Gay Bisexual Straight Alliance played part of the first scene of the original L Word series. (The “sweet little figs” scene, in case you were wondering—the girls who get it get it.) Even so, it wasn’t until years later, when I first saw Blue Is the Warmest Color , that I actually found a queer story that reminded me of my own. During the Weimar era, Germans publicly challenged gender and sexual norms. This was especially true in big cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Frankfurt am Main. Weimar’s Lesbian Networks and Communities Based on the French novella “Carmilla,” which would also inspire Hammer Films’ Karnstein Trilogy a decade later, “Blood and Roses” is notable for launching Roger Vadim’s fruitful collaboration with cinematographer Claude Renoir, who would later shoot Vadim’s cult classic, “Barbarella.” StarringMel Ferrer as Leopoldo De Karnstein and Elsa Martinelli as Georgia Monteverdi.I'm not about to put Kissing Jessica Stein in this category, because it's too weak of a queer film to be even considered. There's also Mulholland Drive, which had some very brief hot queer moments relative to its era (2001). Heavenly Creatures (1994) served the queer goth community particularly well. Sadly, that community is relatively small. Her husband reacted surprisingly well too, suggesting that they enrol in therapy to help both of them exit their long-standing relationship. I took this as my cue to make a commitment and said I would move to the suburbs to be with her and her three children, once her husband had moved out.
Because there was no single law or policy that applied to sexual relations between women, lesbians had a wide range of experiences in Nazi Germany. These experiences were not solely determined by their sexuality. Rather, other factors shaped lesbians’ lives during the Nazi era. Among them were supposed “racial” identity, political attitudes, social class, and gender norms. Based on these factors as well as others, some lesbians (especially those who were working class) were imprisoned or sent to concentration camps. In these instances, they were classified as political prisoners or asocials. Jewish lesbians largely faced Nazi persecution and mass murder as Jews. In most cases, their sexuality was a secondary factor. The Germans and their collaborators murdered an unknown number of Jewish lesbians during World War II. Before the Nazis: Lesbians in the Weimar Republic Public discussions of sexuality had occurred in Germany since the late 19th century. However, the social atmosphere during the Weimar Republic created more space for these conversations. There were discussions about homosexuality at the time. 1 Physician and sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld and others organized gay and lesbian “friendship leagues” ( Freundschaftsverbände ), which also included heterosexual members. These groups advocated for the decriminalization of sexual relations between men. In this endeavor, they found allies on the political left and center. Among the supporters were: In addition, there was no specific law under which lesbians were prosecuted. Thus, there is not always an obvious place to look for criminal records pertaining to their arrests and detentions. For example, lesbians appear in court cases and police files relating to political opposition or asocial behavior. However, these are scattered across many files and in various archives. Scholars hoping to learn about lesbians’ stories are painstakingly combing through these files. As am I. Representation always matters, whether it's in the Halls of Congress or at your local independent theater. Queer women deserve to have their queer female sex represented on screen, without it devolving into typical pornographic tropes: shaved vaginas, sorority sisters, giant jiggly boobs, foot-long dildos, scissoring, a well-hung neighbor guy who just "pops in" for a threesome, etc. There's absolutely nothing wrong with any of these erotic ingredients, per se, but it's formulaic and not particularly representational of most queer sex. Another difficulty is that very few lesbians shared testimonies about their experiences during this time. This is partially because the topic of sexual relations between women remained taboo for decades after the Nazi era.Before, during, and after the Nazi regime, men accused of homosexuality were prosecuted under Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code. This statute criminalized sexual relations between men. It did not apply to sexual relations between women. Nonetheless, beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime harassed and destroyed lesbian communities and networks that had developed during the Weimar Republic (1918–1933). This created a climate of restriction and fear for many lesbians. Hirschfeld and others also sought to educate the public about sexuality. For example, they promoted Hirschfeld’s ideas that homosexuality is inborn and not a vice or perversion. To encourage Aryan procreation, the Nazis adopted a variety of programs and laws. One example is the Lebensborn program. It encouraged Aryan women to have many children, even outside of marriage. At the same time, the Nazi regime tried to prohibit or limit the procreation of other supposedly inferior groups. In July 1933, a new law mandated sterilization of people with supposedly hereditary disabilities. Other laws, such as the 1935 Nuremberg Laws , defined who could have sex with whom. But even in cases when lesbians were arrested and sent to concentration camps, the records can be hard to find. One of the greatest challenges is that lesbians were rarely identified as such in official records from the Nazi era.
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