Inversions
Inversions was the first French magazine for homosexuals, published in Paris from 1924 to 1925. Only five issues of the magazine appeared, as the editors had to answer after the first issue in a process that they lost.
Inversions has published texts by Claude Cahun and Henry Gauthier-Villars , among others , as well as sexual science writings by Havelock Ellis and Camille Spiess .
history
Inversions was founded in 1924 by Gustave-Léon Beyria and Gaston-Ernest Lestrade. The first issue appeared on November 15, a booklet cost 1.50 francs and was therefore extremely expensive. Inversions was sold publicly at newsstands, but could also be subscribed to. With the third edition Inversions should be renamed to Urania , but the renaming did not take place because of the ban on the magazine. Issue number 4 was the last, but a single follow-up issue was published under the title L'Amitie .
As a result of the advertising, the Deputy Prèvert asked on November 5th whether the publication of a homosexual magazine had been authorized. He was then informed that a lawsuit against the editors for indecency was already being prepared. Law enforcement reviews found Inversions to be of high quality and in no way obscene, but nonetheless morally dangerous. After numerous complaints about the magazine reached the authorities, the public prosecutor pushed the case for "causing public nuisance". Beyria was sentenced to ten months' imprisonment and a fine of 200 francs, Lestrade to six months in prison and a fine of 200 francs. In the appeal, the court held that Inversions was "correct in form and did not contain any indecent terminology", but that it was a "systematic appeal to homosexual passions", which was precisely the crime. Beyria and Lestrade were finally sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 100 francs each.
Content
Inversions saw itself as "not a magazine about homosexuals, but a magazine for homosexuals". It was based on the model of German magazines such as Der Eigen , but also reported on the sexual science school around Magnus Hirschfeld . In addition to medical and historical texts, there were literary reviews and initially also personals.
reception
At that time there were no laws against homosexuality in France, nor was there an organized homosexual movement . In France, gay life was reflected primarily in intellectual and literary circles, especially in Paris. Neither Beyria nor Lestrade were in any way connected to these circles, they acted as outsiders and also found no support from there in the context of the ban efforts.
The few mentions and reviews of Inversions in contemporary magazines were mocking and even homophobic; in view of the references to the German movement, it was also assumed that Germany had a hand in destroying the French "tradition" of heterosexuality.