Johann Baptist von Schweitzer: The Queer Marx Loved to Hate Hubert Kennedy San Francisco State University SUMMARY. Despite his conviction on a morals charge involving a boy, the early German Social Democrat Johann Baptist von Schweit- zer went on to have a successful political career. His life furnishes the context to present remarks by his political opponents Marx and Engels, which reveal their deep-seated homophobia. It is pointed out that this has been glossed over by the translations of the recently published Marx/Engels Collected Works. Some remarks on boy-love and anarchism are appended. In an attempt to analyze homosexuality from the viewpoint of dialectical or historical materialism, an effort would of course be made to learn the opinions of Marx and Engels. But the classics of Marxism are remarkably silent on the subject. Marx appears to assert the naturalness of heterosexuality in his statement, ‘‘The relation of man to woman is the most natural relation of human being to human being,’’ 1 while Engels twice condemns pederasty in the ancients: ‘‘In the course of their migrations the Germans had morally much deteriorated, particularly during their southeasterly Correspondence may be addressed: 3475 16th St., Apt. 12, San Francisco, CA 94114. [Haworth co-indexing entry note]: ‘‘Johann Baptist von Schweitzer: The Queer Marx Loved to Hate.’’ Kennedy, Hubert. Co-published simultaneously in Journal of Homosexuality (The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 29, No. 2/3, 1995, pp. 69-96; and: Gay Men and the Sexual History of the Political Left (ed: Gert Hekma, Harry Oosterhuis, and James Steakley) The Haworth Press, Inc., 1995, pp. 69-96; and Gay Men and the Sexual History of the Political Left (ed: Gert Hekma, Harry Oosterhuis, and James Steakley) Harrington Park Press, an imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 1995, pp. 69-96. Multiple copies of this article/chapter may be purchased from The Haworth Document Delivery Center. [1-800-342-9678 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST)]. E 1995 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 69