Imrich Matyáš

Imrich Matyáš (24 April 1896, Bratislava – 18 October 1974, Bratislava) was one of the earliest activist in Czechoslovakia to fight for the equal rights of sexual minorities and the decriminalization of homosexuality.[1] He was a contributor to the first Czechoslovak queer periodical, Hlas sexuální menšiny ("Voice of the Sexual Minorites").[1]

Imrich Matyáš
Born24 April 1896 Edit this on Wikidata
Bratislava Edit this on Wikidata
Died18 October 1974 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 78)
Bratislava Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationLGBT rights activist Edit this on Wikidata

Early life

Imrich was born in Bratislava (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) to a family with aristocratic roots. After serving as soldier in the Italian front of World War I, he began a lifelong career as a clerk at the Social Security and Retirement Benefits Institute.[2] He started advocating for the rights of homosexuals from 1919.[2]

Activism

Imrich's work as an advocate for homosexuality has been influenced by the writings of German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and activist Kurt Hiller.[3] Along with them, he was a member of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and the World League for Sexual Reform.[4] To aid Bratislava's queer community, he authored a manual for gay people abound how to defend themselves in the criminal justice system.[5]

After World War II, the new Czechoslovak government continued the criminalisation of homosexual acts and the new Penal Code of 1950 made it punishable to up to one year of imprisonment.[1][6] Imrich actively argued against the legislation and tried to convince officials about amending it.[6] Homosexuality was finally decriminalised in Czechoslovakia on 29 November 1961.

See also

References
  1. "Pathways to Decriminalization of Homosexual Acts". Records Uncovered. Blinken Open Society Archives, Háttér Archive. 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  2. Vērdiņš, Kārlis, ed. (2016). Queer Stories of Europe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 136. ISBN 978-1-4438-9790-7.
  3. Jablonická-Zezulová, Jana. "Matyášove práce a úvahy v Hlase sexuální menšiny". Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  4. Vērdiņš, Kārlis, ed. (2016). Queer Stories of Europe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 137. ISBN 978-1-4438-9790-7.
  5. Vērdiņš, Kārlis, ed. (2016). Queer Stories of Europe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4438-9790-7.
  6. Vērdiņš, Kārlis, ed. (2016). Queer Stories of Europe. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4438-9790-7.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.