TY - JOUR

T1 - Aspects of Radical Gay Liberation Theory in West Germany's Tuntenstreit, 1973–1975

AU - Branding, Hauke

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Gender & History published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This article examines in depth the theoretical positions of the Tuntenstreit – a major theoretical dispute within the radical West German gay liberation movement in the 1970s. By working through archival material as well as the dispute's fundamental texts, it renders visible its often-neglected underlying theoretical motifs and, consequently, its idiosyncratic contribution to a ‘gay theory’. Subsequently, it shows how questions of publicity and appearance – exemplified in the figure of the Tunte – were integrated into the revolutionary politics of the movement. This critical examination seeks to inform understandings and genealogies of West German gay liberation and its theory production.

AB - This article examines in depth the theoretical positions of the Tuntenstreit – a major theoretical dispute within the radical West German gay liberation movement in the 1970s. By working through archival material as well as the dispute's fundamental texts, it renders visible its often-neglected underlying theoretical motifs and, consequently, its idiosyncratic contribution to a ‘gay theory’. Subsequently, it shows how questions of publicity and appearance – exemplified in the figure of the Tunte – were integrated into the revolutionary politics of the movement. This critical examination seeks to inform understandings and genealogies of West German gay liberation and its theory production.

KW - Cultural studies

KW - Science of art

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214843380&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/1468-0424.12829

DO - 10.1111/1468-0424.12829

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85214843380

JO - Gender and History

JF - Gender and History

SN - 0953-5233

M1 - e12829

ER -