Although the Allies liberated concentration camps and freed the people there, there was still a German law (Paragraph 175) that criminalized homosexuality. That law put many gay men back in prison even after being freed from Nazi imprisonment.
Notably, East Germany quickly switched to a narrower definition of “criminal homosexuality”, which meant that it was less likely to be enforced. It also stopped enforcing the law in 1957 and abolished it entirely in 1968. On the other hand, West Germany used the Nazi’s version of the law and arrested 100,000 men and convicted 59,000. The punishments were not as harsh as they were under the Nazis, including shorter prison sentences or only fines, but the law stayed on the books even after the government “deemphasized enforcement” in 1969.
Paragraph 175 was fully removed in 1994 when East and West Germany reunited.
I did some digging and wanted to add context.
Although the Allies liberated concentration camps and freed the people there, there was still a German law (Paragraph 175) that criminalized homosexuality. That law put many gay men back in prison even after being freed from Nazi imprisonment.
Notably, East Germany quickly switched to a narrower definition of “criminal homosexuality”, which meant that it was less likely to be enforced. It also stopped enforcing the law in 1957 and abolished it entirely in 1968. On the other hand, West Germany used the Nazi’s version of the law and arrested 100,000 men and convicted 59,000. The punishments were not as harsh as they were under the Nazis, including shorter prison sentences or only fines, but the law stayed on the books even after the government “deemphasized enforcement” in 1969.
Paragraph 175 was fully removed in 1994 when East and West Germany reunited.
Sources: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/paragraph-175-and-the-nazi-campaign-against-homosexuality#paragraph-after-the-nazi-era-6 https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/gay-men-under-the-nazi-regime https://www.thepinktriangle.com/history/symbol.html
The wrong Germany won