On a class trip to the Deutsches Historisches Museum, I abandoned our historical scavenger hunt to explore the Homosexuality_ies exhibit presented in collaboration with the Schwules Museum*. Separated into ten chapters, the exhibit provides a historical narrative exploring gender and sexuality in Germany using audio and video clips, art, and individual accounts.
Visitors begin with a very intimate version of history in the first chapter, which displays personal artifacts and interviews of Germans sharing their “Coming Out” stories. The organization of the chapters provides an interesting and powerful experience throughout the entire exhibition. Each chapter presents history from a different angle with varied approaches. One chapter is comprised of portraits of prominent German lesbians throughout time while another explores the criminalization of homosexuality around the world in the past and present.
By far the most powerful 
display for me was in the listening booths which provided an audio loop of homophobic quotes and speeches from citizens, politicians, celebrities, and organizations spanning decades.My favorite chapter was “Savage Knowledge,” which displays objects in an interactive encyclopedia, each specific to a different aspect or period of history. The articles included a public bathroom door with a glory hole that served as a “tearoom” for gay men, a short film that is played at the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism, and the attached playlist of “movement anthems.”
Of course, the documentation of male homosexuals is far more extensive than any other group featured in the exhibit. However, the curators of the museum made an obvious effort to put the narratives of lesbians and women of color as well as transgender, intersex and other queer identified people at the center of the exhibit.
The realization of this exhibition is remarkable and politically significant. Housed in the largest historical museum in Germany, the exhibition reaches a massive audience of germans and international visitors. The idea and initiative came from the Schwules Museum* but funding for both exhibitions was entirely state funded through the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Cultural Foundation of the German Laender. For anyone interested, Homosexualität_en runs through December 1st with a partner exhibit at the Schwules Museum*. Entry is €4 with a student ID and all entrances and exhibits are wheelchair accessible. For more information go to https://www.dhm.de/en or http://www.schwulesmuseum.de/en