Editing Paragraph 175 (section)

===Development in the Soviet occupation zone and in East Germany===
[[File:Victim of fascism.jpg|thumb|Invalidated ("ungültig") OdF identity card: The Magistrate of East Berlin refused any [[pink triangle|pink-triangle prisoner]] the right to receive a pension as a "victim of fascism" (''"Opfer des Faschismus"'', hence ''"OdF"'').]]

In the [[Soviet occupation zone]] that later became [[East Germany]], the development of law was not uniform. <!--The government of [[Thuringia]] moderated Paragraphs 175 and 175a in a manner similar to that contemplated in the draft criminal code of 1925, while in the other states (''[[States of Germany|Länder]]'') the 1935 version of the statute remained in effect without changes. Although in 1946 the ''Committee for Law Examination'' of [[East Berlin]] specifically advised not to include §&nbsp;175 StGB in a new criminal code, this recommendation had no consequences.--> The Provincial High Court in [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] (''Oberlandesgericht Halle, or OLG Halle'') decided for [[Saxony-Anhalt]] in 1948 that Paragraphs 175 and 175a were to be seen as injustice perpetrated by the Nazis, because a [[Progressivism|progressive]] juridical development had been broken off and even been reversed. Homosexual acts were to be tried only according to the laws of the Weimar Republic.<ref name="Vorbehalt">{{cite book|title=NS-Opfer unter Vorbehalt: homosexuelle Männer in Berlin nach 1945|language=de|author= Andreas Pretzel|page=191|year=2002|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |isbn=3825863905}}</ref>

In 1950, one year after being reconstituted as the German Democratic Republic, the Berlin Appeal Court (''Kammergericht Berlin'') decided for all of East Germany to reinstate the validity of the old, pre-1935 form of Paragraph 175.<ref name="Vorbehalt"/> However, in contrast to the earlier action of the OLG Halle, the new Paragraph 175a remained unchanged, because it was said to protect society against "socially harmful homosexual acts of qualified character". In 1954, the same court decided that Paragraph 175a, in contrast to Paragraph 175, did not presuppose acts tantamount to sexual intercourse. Lewdness (''Unzucht'') was defined as any act that is performed to arouse sexual excitement and "violates the moral sentiment of our workers".<ref name="Vorbehalt"/>

A revision of the criminal code in 1957 made it possible to put aside prosecution of an illegal action that represented no danger to [[Socialism|socialist]] society because of lack of consequence. This removed Paragraph 175 from the effective body of the law, because at the same time the East Berlin Court of Appeal (''Kammergericht'') decided that all punishments deriving from the old form of Paragraph 175 should be suspended due to the insignificance of the acts to which it had been applied. On this basis, homosexual acts between consenting adults ceased to be punished, beginning in the late 1950s.<ref name="Kammer">{{cite book|title=Die letzte Fahrt mit dem Fahrrad: 19 Gespräche mit Matteo über Mut, Glück und Aufbegehren in der DDR|author=Wilfried Bergholz|year=2016|publisher=Tredition |isbn=978-3734525056}}</ref>

On 1 July 1968, the GDR adopted its own code of criminal law. In it §&nbsp;151 StGB-DDR provided for a sentence up to three years' imprisonment or probation for an adult (18 and over) who engaged in sexual acts with a youth (under 18) of the same sex. This law applied not only to men who have sex with boys but equally to women who have sex with girls.<ref>1968, Basic Law of the GDR, §&nbsp;151 StGB-DDR</ref>

On 11 August 1987, the Supreme Court of the GDR struck down a conviction under Paragraph 151 on the basis that "homosexuality, just like heterosexuality, represents a variant of sexual behavior. Homosexual people do therefore not stand outside socialist society, and the civil rights are warranted to them exactly as to all other citizens." One year later, the [[Volkskammer]] (the parliament of the GDR), in its fifth revision of the criminal code, brought the written law in line with what the court had ruled, striking Paragraph 151 without replacement. The act passed into law May 30, 1989. This removed all specific reference to homosexuality from East German criminal law.<ref name="books-RemqUXsMyMsC-253">Christian Schäfer: ''"Widernatürliche Unzucht"'' (2006), S.&nbsp;253 ({{Google books|RemqUXsMyMsC||page=253}})</ref>