Seduction of Youth

Javier Samper Vendrell is an assistant professor of German and core faculty in the Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

• DedicationAcknowledgements Introduction1. Theories of Adolescent Sexuality and Homosexual Seduction2. The League for Human Rights, Print Culture, and Homosexual Rights 3. The Allure of Youth in the League for Human Rights’ Publications4. The 1926 Trash and Smut Law, Youth Protection, and Homosexual Publications 5. The Pitfalls of Boy Love6. Male Prostitution, Age of Consent, and the Decriminalization of HomosexualityConclusion: The Seduction of Youth, Respectability, and the End of Weimar’s Homosexual Rights MovementEndnotesBibliography

"Not only has Samper Vendrell written a book that is potentially generative of new histories of this moment, but his dexterity in handling the difficult themes of youth, consent, and abuse in the context of homosexual emancipation will also undoubtably serve as a model for future studies."- Christopher Ewing, Virginia Commonwealth University (H-German) "In this concise and conceptually elegant study, Javier Samper Vendrell examines the ideas, business enterprises, advocacy, and organizing work of Friedrich Radszuweit, a leading figure in the Weimar homosexual rights movement."- Edward Dickinson, University of California, Davis (H-Soz-Kult) "This book deserves a wide readership, for beyond its methodological lessons for historians it offers astute insight into the fragile advantages and serious limitations of a politicking grounded in superficial visibility and respectability and that continues to dominate mainstream queer organizations amidst a reactionary storm rumbling across North America." (Journal of History) "The book represents a valuable addition to recent studies of the politics of respectability in the first homosexual emancipation movement." - Andrea Rottmann, Freie Universität Berlin (Journal of the History of Sexuality)