The film was intended as a polemic against the then-current laws under Germany's Paragraph 175, which made homosexuality a criminal offense.

[3] Censorship laws were enacted in reaction to films like Anders als die Andern and by October 1920 only doctors and medical researchers could view it.

Veidt became a major film star the year after Anders was released, in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

[3] Veidt portrays a successful violinist, Paul Körner, who falls in love with one of his male students.

The film opens with Paul Körner (Conrad Veidt), a successful violinist reading the daily newspaper obituaries, which are filled with vaguely worded and seemingly inexplicable suicides.

Kurt Sivers (Fritz Schulz) is a fan and admirer of Körner and approaches him in hopes of becoming a student of his.

His first memory is of boarding school, when he and his boyfriend Max are discovered kissing by their teacher and he is expelled.

Next, he remembers University and his solitary and lonely life there, and the growing impossibility of trying to play straight.

The Doctor speaks on topics such as homosexuality, lesbianism, gender identity, intersexuality, the perils of stereotypes, and the idea that sexuality is physically determined, rather than a mental condition.

Allowed to go home before starting his term, Körner finds himself shunned by friends and strangers alike, and no longer employable.

Justice through knowledge!The film closes with an open German law book, turned to Paragraph 175, as a hand holding a brush crosses it out.

Since October 2006, a DVD edition from the Munich Film Museum has been available in both German and English languages.

This DVD version also includes a short documentary about the history of censorship and a section of Laws of Love.

[10] Conservative and reactionary sides called for a reintroduction of censorship policy, claiming that they wanted to protect young people.

Some people also reacted to the film with antisemitism, which was seen in a range of publications including strict conservative pages and the gay journals of Friedrich Radszuweit-Verlag.

These new film censorship laws were entitled the Reichslichtspielgesetz (Reich Cinema Act), and they were reinstated on May 12, 1920.

[8] The censorship commission consisted of three psychiatrists: Emil Kraepelin, Albert Moll, and Siegfried Placzek, all of whom were opponents of Hirschfeld and his advocacy of the legalization of homosexuality.

[12] Curt Moreck, in his book Sittengeschichte des Kinos (Moral Stories of Cinema) commented against the film in 1926.

(„Allein selbst in den Kreisen der Kinoindustrie wurden Proteste laut, und die öffentliche Meinung wandte sich mit einem vielstimmigen Chor gegen das Wagnis, perverse Erscheinungen des Sexuallebens zum Inhalt von Aufklärungsfilmen zu machen.“)[13] The Encyclopedia of International Films (Lexikon des internationalen Films) saw Oswald’s work completely positively: "This exemplary intimate play, the first German film about homosexuality, avoids every cliché and shimmers with outstanding performances" (“Das beispielhafte Kammerspiel, der erste deutsche film über Homosexualität, vermeidet jedes Klischee und glänzt mit exzellenten Darstellerleistungen.“)[14] The film, which co-starred and was co-written by sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, refers to Hirschfeld's theory of "sexual intermediacy".

The theory places homosexuality within a broad spectrum comprising heterosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism, and transvestism (a word invented by Hirschfeld).

[2] The early gay anthem "Das lila Lied" from 1920 appears to reference the film's title at the start of its chorus ("Wir sind nun einmal anders als die Andern").