Forced Outings

Excerpt of police protocoll typed with typewriter: My regular customers always refer to me as Kleener [“little one” gendered masculine] or Dicker [“fat one” gendered masculine]. In my opinion, I am only known to my customers as belonging to the male sex. It would certainly be very noticeable if I suddenly appeared in women's clothes. Nobody in my residential building knows that I am a woman either. I was stopped that day by women who asked me to sell goods and for this reason I stopped at the place in question, which is not intended for me for trading. I have only ever lived on my own and have never taken part in lesbian club events or visited them.

An excerpt from _Spindler's Gestapo interrogation

_Spindler

This Gestapo record of the interrogation of the transmasculine fruit seller _Spindler dated 22, August 1940 shows, that all of his customers and neighbours only knew him as a man. At the beginning of August 1940, _Spindler had been caught by the Criminal Police, selling fruit in male connoted clothing on a street corner where he normally did not sell. The Gestapo was informed by the Criminal Police about the incident and forced _Spindler to wear female connoted clothing from then on. Hence he was now forced by the Gestapo to come out to his entire social environment. This not only threatened the private peace inside his home. As a street vendor, it posed a threat to his existence as well.

Investigations against gender nonconforming people could lead to forced outings in their social environment, for example in front of family, superiors, colleagues and customers, as well as in front of neighbours. Both the family and financial future of those affected could be jeopardized by a forced outing. During interrogations, officers could threaten them with a forced outing and thus put them under pressure.