lgbtq+ Neighborhoods in Berlin

Datei:LGBTQ+ rainbow flag Quasar "Progress" variant.svg – Wikipedia

As Berlin is unofficially known as Europe’s gay capital, we would like to take the opportunity and give you a little overview of Berlin’s most gay friendly districts (obviously in no way is this a complete list). The neighborhoods featured have a rich density of queer bars and clubs and convey a general feeling of inclusiveness.

S c h ö n e b e r g

When the city was divided into East and West Berlin, the Schöneberg district slowly began to develop a vibrant gay and lesbian community. As the wall came down in 1989, Schöneberg’s queer community continued to grow. Today it is known for being Berlin’s most gay-friendly district and is considered the traditional center for gay culture in Berlin. Along Fuggerstrasse, there are dozens of clubs, pubs, restaurants and all manner of other businesses catering to the queer community. A hot spot for gay culture is also Schöneberg’s Motzstraße. For a more extensive list on queer pubs and clubs in Schöneberg see a map here.

Schöneberg’s queer set up also makes it a very fitting location for Berlin’s Schwules Museum* (Gay Museum), which moved from Kreuzberg to Schöneberg’s Lützowstraße a couple of years ago.  The museum presents a number of regularly changing exhibitions on everything queer. It also organizes talks, lectures and get-togethers evolving around gay culture. And! If you like to get a little bit of reading in on the topic of gay culture, their library consists of more than 20,000 volumes covering all areas of scientific inquiry from humanities, social science, sexology, fine arts and popular science. In this context it is also worth mentioning that in the last couple of years they have made a bigger effort to collect literature on female homosexuality, queer feminist theory and trans and inter experiences.

Where? Lützowstraße 73, 10785 Berlin
Opening Hours: Sun, Mon, Wed, Fri 2pm - 6 pm, Thu 2 pm - 8 pm,
Sat 2 pm - 7 pm, closed on Tuesdays
Approx. 15 minutes from the subway station Nollendorfplatz

K r e u z b e r g

The queer scene in Kreuzberg started as an alternative to the scene in Mitte. Although Kreuzberg’s queer culture has changed over the years, there are still a few staples to be found. One of them is Möbel Olfe, which is always incredibly crowded, but a real institution. It’s an old furniture store that has been remodeled into a bar with changing events and DJs. No chance for boredom.

Close to Kottbuser Tor at Mariannenstraße you find the women’s café Oya, which mostly caters to women, lesbians, trans, inter and queer individuals. This being said, all identities are welcome (except on Thursdays, which is reserved for wltiq). They offer vegan and vegetarian dishes for lunch, reasonably priced coffee for 1,80€ and drinks in the evening hours. Events at the café revolve around queer-feminist and anti-racist topics.

No chance for understatement provides Roses in Kreuzberg, where chairs and walls consist of fur fabric. The interior is a mixture of trashy and cheesy and definitely worth a visit.

At Mehringdamm you find the queer bar Rauschgold, which is also a good location for karaoke. What you’ll get at Rauschgold is a mixture of relaxing bar venue and alternative party location. Besides karaoke, they organize regular events, with a focus on drag shows (some shows are fee-based). Stay up to date with their event calendar or visit their Facebook page.

S c h w u Z  and  S i l v e r F u t u r e   i n  N e u k ö l l n

Neukölln is not necessarily known as a particularly gay district. This being said, a couple of years ago SchwuZ, one of Berlin’s favorite gay clubs, moved from its old location in Kreuzberg to its new and bigger one in Neukölln (close to the subway station Rathaus Neukölln). Besides having a bigger venue at hand, the decision to move was also a political one. The club’s move to the culturally very distinct Neukölln represents SchwuZ’s aim to combine different lifestyles and, as the owners state, „Neukölln’s exciting Kiez is an important catalyst for this.“

The bar SilverFuture located in Neukölln’s Reuterkiez could have easily been named PinkFuture, stemming from its interior. So get prepared for some serious pink and silver vibes.  The cosy queer bar is fully packed at peak times and features concerts, DJ sets and vernissages.

lgbtqia+ travel in Europe

Was bedeudet „LGBTQIA+“? | FIETE KielTo get a sense of what the lgbtqia+ culture is like in Europe and to keep up to date with country policies you can make use of different lgbtq+ organizations out there, like the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association. In terms of European lgbtqia+ rights organizations, Rainbow Europe and TGEU: Transgender Europe are worth getting to know as well.

In queer-friendly destination cities like London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Stockholm, Barcelona, and Paris, lgbtqia+ culture isn’t radically different from each other. And will be similar to what you will find here in Berlin (numerous bars, hotels, restaurants and shops specificially catering to the lgbtqia+ community). Usually, these differences vary based on the country’s or region’s cultural nuances.

It is obviously  important to note that Europe has homophobic and transphobic attitudes in all its regions. These are often found in more rural parts of the respective country. At the same time, cities are not immune to hate either. What applies here is the same advice we already gave you for Berlin, which is to be aware of your surroundings and carefully negotiate each setting and „test the waters“ to ensure safety.

Eastern Europe for instance does not have a very great track record for lgbtqia+ rights. Obvisouly it is up to you where you want to travel to, but as a general rule, the further east you travel in Europe, the more careful you need to be about public displays of your sexuality. This is primarily due to the reason that Eastern Europe is more socially conservative.

The European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) produces a very helpful “Rainbow Europe” guide to the legal positions of Europe’s states. All in all Europe is becoming more and more lgbtqia+ friendly!

lgbtqia+ at Freie Universität Berlin

What do the letters in LGBTQIA+ stand for? Common terms explained - ABC  Everyday
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The official voice for all student affairs at Freie Universität Berlin is the AStA, which stands for Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss (General Student’s Committee). As far as lgbtqia+ rights and issues are concerned, the AStA combines two departments: the Department of Queers and the Department of [LesBiTransInterA]*.

The Department of Queers  represents all gay, bisexual, trans*, inter* and queer students and organizes events such as lectures, pub crawls and movie nights, and also has opening hours, where you can get information about gbtq+ living in Berlin and support should you encounter discrimination.

Where? AStA FU Berlin, Otto-von-Simson-Str. 23, 14195 Berlin
Consulting Hours? Tue 4pm - 5pm, Thurs 2pm - 3pm
Email: queer {at} astafu.de

For lesbian, a-/bi-/poly-/pan-sexual women, trans*, genderqueer and intersex people the AStA offers the Autonome [LesBiTransInterA]*-Referat, which is situated in the attic of the AStA Villa. Casual meet-ups (excluding cis-men) provide a safe space for exchanging views about life, experiences at university and addressing lesbian, gender/queer, trans and intersex issues. The office regularly organizes networking meetings, communal breakfasts and various events relating to queer topics (for instance movie nights). The pink office also has a queer feminist library that you can check out (most books are in German though).

Where? AStA FU Berlin, Otto-von-Simson-Str. 23, 14195 Berlin
Consulting Hours? Tue 4pm - 5pm, Thurs 2pm - 3pm
Email: lesbitransintera (at) astafu.de
FYI: The main reason for the separation of the two offices is to make sure to provide a save space for every one, presuming that each community has different thematic focuses. Although the offices are separated, both clearly speak out against any form of heteronormativity and transphobia/homophobia. They both demand visibility of intersexual and genderqueer people, gay, lesbians and trans people in all areas of life, including life at the university, of course.

If you would like to get involved or just stop by for coffee, feel very free to.

lgbtq+ in Germany/Berlin

LGBTQ • Flaggen und Bedeutung

Coming to a foreign country as a member of the lgbtq+ community can be a little daunting at first. At home you might feel seen and safe and cared for by the community around you. So moving to a different country can be stressful, because you don’t really know what to expect. It can also be exciting though and an opportunity to find out more about yourself. To give you a little support along the way, we have created a small lgbtq+ section on this blog to tell you more about the queer scene in Berlin, at Freie Universität, where you can find help should you need it, etc. You find it all under Life AbroadQueer Berlin.

Generally, Germany is amongst the most lgbtq+ friendly countries in the world in terms of civil rights. „Not only are homosexual relations legal, but same sex partnerships have been recognized on a national level since 2001 (ILGA). In August 2009, second parent adoption rights were granted to homosexual couples […]” (Shalosky, LGBT Student Guide for Education Abroad) and same-sex marriage has finally been legal since October 1, 2017. Berlin itself has become a hub for gay culture  with a thriving lgbtq+ social scene (numerous clubs, organizations and magazines) and you can expect to see open expression of different sexual orientations. This being said, it is always a good idea to carefully negotiate each setting and „test the waters“ to ensure safety, because it is possible to experience mixed messages about the acceptance of lgbtq+ individuals.