Webinar: “Contamination of the National Body”? How the Nazi Regime tried to intensify the persecution of Norwegian queer men, and why they failed.
Skeivt arkiv, Norwegian Queer Archives, and the Nordic-Baltic Queer Archival Network are pleased to invite you to a webinar by historian Runar Jordåen on March 16 (Monday), at 15:30-17:00 CET.
“Contamination of the National Body”? How the Nazi Regime tried to intensify the persecution of Norwegian queer men, and why they failed.
In 1942, the German Occupation Regime and the collaborationist Quisling Government suggested changing the largely dormant prohibition against sex between men, Section 213 in the Norwegian Penal Code. Despite this initiative, which came from powerful circles and was justified with nazi ideology (homosexuality was described as “contamination of the national body”), the revision never happened.
During the webinar, historian Runar Jordåen will present a close reading of archive materials from public archives and will discuss why the proposal failed to be passed. The presentation is based on his research that was part of a collaboration with other scholars, and will briefly describe their research findings as well.
Runar Jordåen is a historian working at Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archives). Since 2022 he has been a part of a research collaboration with Maria Fritsche, Hans Wiggo Kristiansen and Camilla Hedvig Maartmann providing new knowledge about queer people during the Nazi occupation of Norway 1940-1945.
The webinar will be hosted on Google Meet. The link will be sent to the emails provided at the registration. Please register here until March 12. The registration can be stopped earlier, limiting the number of participants.
The webinar is provided by Skeivt arkiv (The Norwegian Queer Archives) within the framework of the Nordic-Baltic Queer Archival Network which is partially funded by the Nordic Culture Point. The network is a collaboration of išgirsti, Lithuanian Queer Archive (LT), Skeivt arkiv, Norwegian Queer Archives (NO), QRAB, Archives and Library of the Queer Movement (SE), Friends of Queer History (FI), and individual scholars (DK, EE, LV), continuing NNAQH initiative.