Imrich Matyáš (24 April 1896,

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

– 18 October 1974, Bratislava) was one of the earliest activist in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

to fight for the equal rights of

sexual minorities A sexual minority is a group whose sexual identity, sexual orientation, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Primarily used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or non-heterosexual individuals, it can al ...

and the decriminalization of homosexuality. He was a contributor to the first Czechoslovak queer periodical, ''Hlas sexuální menšiny'' ("Voice of the Sexual Minorites").

Early life

Imrich was born in Bratislava (then part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

and the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

) 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. He started advocating for the rights of homosexuals from 1919.

Activism

Imrich's work as an advocate for homosexuality has been influenced by the writings of German sexologist

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...

and activist Kurt Hiller. Along with them, he was a member of the

Scientific-Humanitarian Committee The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee (, WhK) was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin in May 1897, to campaign for social recognition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and against their legal Violence against LGBT people, pers ...

and the

World League for Sexual Reform The World League for Sexual Reform was a League for coordinating policy reforms related to greater openness around sex. The initial groundwork for the organisation, including a congress in Berlin which was later counted as the organisation's first, ...

. To aid Bratislava's queer community, he authored a manual for gay people abound how to defend themselves in the criminal justice system. 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. Imrich actively argued against the legislation and tried to convince officials about amending it. Homosexuality was finally decriminalised in Czechoslovakia on 29 November 1961.

References

External links

First Slovak LGBTI activist has fought for 40 years

The Slovak Spectator ''The Slovak Spectator'' (or in abbreviated form ''Slovak Spectator'') is Slovakia's English-language newspaper. History and profile The debut issue of ''The Slovak Spectator'' hit newsstands across Slovakia on 1 March, 1995. The newspaper was ...

Imrich Matyáš – early activist who documented an entire era
chapter in the online exhibition Loading: Love
Online exhibition about Imrich Matyáš
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matyas, Imrich 1896 births 1974 deaths 20th-century Slovak LGBT people Czechoslovak LGBT people Slovak LGBT rights activists

Early life

Activism

See also

References

External links