The Forum for Living History arranged a seminar at Pride House on Tuesday called "Sterilised, castrated, lobotomised". Two researchers of the topic had the opportunity to talk about it and received questions from two activists.
Participants at the seminar was Ulrika Nilsson, doctor of philosophy in History of Ideas and Intellecutal History and gender researcher; Jens Rydström, historian; Axel Grönqvist, studying to be a physician and transexual activist; and Finn Hellman, freelance journalist and member of the FHOBIT - the association for handicapped Homosexuals, Bisexuals and Transexuals.
Up to 1944 homosexuality was considered to be criminal. In 1944, it was changed to being considered a disease, which had huge consequences for how LGBT- people were treated for a long time afterwards. The law about castration started to be practicioned the same year, and this meant that it became possible to put homosexuals in prison instead of trying to cure them.
- It is interesting to study what was considered normal and deviant, and to compare this with today's perspecitve, Ulrika says.
Lobotomy, sterilisation and castration was practiced all arount Sweden during that time. According to the law, this was only to be done if the patient wanted it. In reality, this was not how it worked.
Jens talks about what is now referred to as the "mildly forced care". Patients were convinced and pressured into giving consent. Reasons for the this could be prostitution, promiscuity, veneral disease or homosexuality. Castration was performed on almost exclusively men while sterilisation was performed primarily on women.
Jens talked ablit some of the stories from the mental hospitals that he has found in his research of journals.
In 1942 a 40 year old teacher was admitted to a mental hospital due to the fact that he had had sex with many men. In the journal it was written that the diagnosis was "homosexuality of the more agressive type". Jens says that the Teacher was a skilled author and had a huge national social network of homosexual men. The physician in charge recommended the Teacher to be castrated but he did not want that. He began to cry and opposed all attempts to be persuaded. According to the notes in the journal, he shortly afterwards started to flirt in an unrestrained way with the female nurses. After two years he was admitted from the hospital as "restored". Others were not as fortunate.
- The shame and the blaming was a central point in how the mental care treated patients, Ulrika says. However, we should not demonise the history. They did what they thought was right. But we should learn from history.