turned away. 20th century From the beginning of the 20th century, increasing numbers of cantons no longer treated sodomy as an official offence, and pursued charges only on request. For a conviction, the offence had to be proved through witness statements, leading to a drastic decline in the number of convictions. The usage of the term sodomy also changed. 1930s: The scene arises In the 1930s, dance clubs were created in Basel and Zürich. When the Nazis rose to power in Germany, Berlin's reputation across Europe as the most liberal and attractive city for LGBT people changed abruptly. Police in several Swiss cities began to create registers of homosexuals, to which they added people in raids on meeting places. In Zürich in 1931, some women founded the «Damen-Club Amicitia» (Amicitia Ladies Club). Soon, men were allowed to join too, and in 1932 the club started publishing a magazine called «Freundschafts-Banner» (Friendship Banner), whose name was changed in 1933 to the «Schweizerisches Freundschafts-Banner» (Swiss Friendship Banner) and in 1937 to «Menschenrecht» (Human Rights). It repeatedly called on its readers to act against slander in the press and work for the decriminalization of homosexuality. 1940s: Exemption from punishment and retreat In 1942, during the Second World War, the first Swiss penal code came into force after 24 years of preparation. Article 194 only penalised acts with "underaged persons of the same sex older than sixteen years". Since the age of majority was 21 in Switzerland at the time, in effect this meant that same-sex sexual acts between adults aged 21 and older were legalised. However, Article 191 legalised different-sex acts from the age of 16 and older, thus leading to a discriminatory, unequal age of consent. Due to the barbarism in Europe and the new freedom in Switzerland, Zurich rose in importance as a European gay capital. With the decriminalization of homosexuality, the combative tone of the magazine Human Rights began to soften. In 1942, the new editor Karl Meier renamed the magazine «Der Kreis/Le Cercle» (The Circle), and turned it into a culture magazine, now only targeted to gay men. His Der Kreis (The Circle) club organised parties several times a year. Both the bi-monthly magazine and the parties were known throughout Europe. 1950s: Adapted and hidden Karl Meier believed that it would take years for society to call for legal recognition of LGBT people, and that LGBT people could only