9 Questions of Gender and Sexual Politics

Abstract

This chapter addresses the relation of the Weimar Left to questions of sexual politics and the movement for women's equality. The Social Democrats, under the Erfurt Programme of 1891, were already committed before 1914 to achieving equality of rights between men and women. One glaring instance of inequality was the exclusion of women from the franchise. The Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany (USPD) called in 1917 for the immediate introduction of equal voting rights for women, and the Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (MSPD) was happy to agree to this once the War was over. The 1919 Constitution confirmed the decision. The occasional visit to the ballot box did not change women's unequal situation in other respects, but it cannot be said that the German Social Democrats (SPD) gave priority to this matter during the Weimar Republic.Keywords: Erfurt Programme; German Social Democrats (SPD); MSPD; sexual politics; USPD; Weimar Republic