Former neo-Nazi becomes leftist after sex change

[steve2470]

http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20110312-33671.html

Published: 12 Mar 11 09:21 CET

Before undergoing a sex change to become a woman, Monika Strub was a member of Germany's neo-Nazi NPD party. But ten years later, she is running for Baden-Württemberg's state parliament for the socialist Left party.

"I have completely broken with the NPD," Strub told German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung this week, referring to the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party (NPD). "I am a true socialist."

Strub was a member of the NPD from 2000 to 2002. Photos show "Horst Strub," as she was known in the years before her sex-reassignment surgery, with cropped hair, a beard and a bomber jacket.

Today, the 35-year old nurse and photographer named Monika Strub is campaigning for the socialist Left party.

[Drale]

1. Anger and frustration with yourself

and hurt everyone around you.

[Ian David]

2. She's cute, too...

[bbinacan]

3. That is not cute. n/t

[trof]

16. She has 'big face'.

Steroids?

[speltwon]

24. She was a man

Men have, on average 10 times the testerone levels of women, endogenously. She lived in that hormonal milieu for her entire life prior to surgery. If you mean exogenous steroids, well she probably took estrogen and takes it as part of her sex change. I strongly doubt she would be taking "male" steroids e.g. testosterone etc. since she has transitioned and that would make her look less feminine, ceteris paribus.

[inademv]

4. Sorry for breaking Godwin's law so quickly but...

Didn't the Nazi party first gain power by campaigning under a banner of worker's rights and socialism?

[Warren DeMontague]

6. No.

That is a blatant misreading of history. The Nazis were always anti-communist, xenophobic, anti-semitic, and hyper-nationalist. And, they were backed by Germany's biggest corporations.

[inademv]

10. So how does that square with

The whole "national socialist" spheal?

[steve2470]

11. Hitler and the NSDAP knew that including Socialist in their name would broaden its appeal.

It was purely a cynical political move on their part.

[fascisthunter]

17. and this FACT is what the Right Wing COnveniently Ignores

[inademv]

18. Yes and I'm saying that it is funny

how much this story kinda mirrors that. Running as a would-be elected official she would be in line to make policy that isn't quite in line with the party of which she is now a part. Just strikes me as familiar is all.

[Posteritatis]

12. How does it conflict with it? (nt)

[Warren DeMontague]

13. I can call myself a turnip, that doesn't make me one. nt

[inademv]

19. No but it could likely get you some votes from a turnip

Labeling is as important as policy itself when it comes to gaining power.

[Warren DeMontague]

21. The Nazis biggest power grab came from burning the Reichstag and blaming the Communists.

I'm not sure what SPECIFIC point you're trying to make, here. Perhaps you can offer more details? :shrug:

[inademv]

22. I'm trying to say

that the radical 180 in political identity smacks of the same kind of Orwellian rebranding that has been undertaken by right-wing and crypto-fascists in recent history.

Was just remaking on that oddity is all. I fully believe that someone can be enlightened to liberal values but going from neo-nazi to full on socialist just seems a little... odd.

[speltwon]

28. imo, from what I have seen, the farther left and farther right people

who make a paradigm switch often tend to go about equally extreme to the other side. Iow, former communists etc. are more likely to switch to far right positions, and former far right people are more likely to swing full left, so to speak.

David Horowitz is a good example of a guy who used to be on one extreme and has gone to the other. Communism is an extremist and very statist philoshophy, and in the switch that statist tendency tends to remain

[inademv]

31. Remember that the political spectrum

has 2 axises, left/right and authoritarian/libertarian (the second one is debatable as to its labels) and authoritarian leftists are as much an enemy to liberals such as myself as authoritarian rightists.

[speltwon]

32. Yes, I agree

But imo the reality is that when gets extremely left or extremely right, authoritarianism becomes more and more a certainty to impose the ideology. You can't have a communist state w/o strong authoritarianism just like you can't have a fascist state w/o it.

We see authoritarianism from the left and the right all the time, just when it comes to pet issues of either side. And of course if one goes far enough to the right or left, there is a lot of common ground. It's more like a circle than a straight line spectrum.

Some people will try to read this as some sort of manifesto for moderation, when it's not.

[movonne]

30. Just watch how the repugs are doing it right now...save our freedoms

as they take them away...taking away our unions...just what Hitler did..go after the minorities..just like Hitler did and on an on..

[DJ13]

14. The same way Bush rolled back environmental standards by calling the bill

"The Clean Air Act"

In propaganda its relatively common for the names of groups and/or actions to be the complete opposite of the intended consequences.

[readmoreoften]

25. They were not socialists at all. They were trying to steal workers from the SPD (socialist party)

The SPD was a progressive (democratic socialist) party that degenerated into a party not unlike our Democratic Party during the economic crisis in Germany. The right-wing of that party (the "centrists") became anti-immigrant racists who endlessly capitulated to the Kaiser and even murdered their own truly socialist members. Nevertheless, Germans liked the word "socialist" in the same way that Americans like the word "democracy" or "freedom". It was just a vague term that could be used to manipulate people's emotions. There was nothing socialist about the Nazi party. The first thing they did was kill all the unions and Marxists.

The SPD was much like the Democratic Party (with a left and a "center" that always capitulated to the right.) The Nazi party was much like the Tea Party, but with a highly organized and charismatic leadership.

[readmoreoften]

26. North Korea is the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

It's not Democratic or a People's Republic.

[readmoreoften]

23. No.

[somone]

5. Pics

[angstlessk]

15. Well, she looks a lot of a heck better as a woman then she did as a man

beyond that, I got nothing...cept the more lefties the better!

[Warren DeMontague]

7. Some people shouldn't have testicles.

That's what I get from this story.

[steve2470]

9. this was the most interesting part of the article:

Strub told Süddeutsche Zeitung she is now a victim of far-right harassment, saying she has been threatened multiple times. On Thursday. Strub said her home was vandalised after NPD stickers were placed on her windows and doors.

[underpants]

8. Headline of the ages. hahahahhahaaa

I HAVE to cross post this in the Lounge.

[readmoreoften]

27. I don't exactly see how this is funny.

[rug]

20. I'm glad she shed her past.

[readmoreoften]

29. Good for her. Reminds us not to give up on people.