Acceptance and tolerance: why we are not there yet. My journalist’s heart beats faster when I can write about something that truly moves me. That definitely includes acceptance and tolerance towards the LGBTI community in Mainz. For the Mainz magazine Sensor I therefore wrote the cover story on “Gay and lesbian life in Mainz” . A story with difficult birth pangs. It was easy for me to get talking to gay men and lesbians in Mainz. Openness and acceptance help enormously. But finding interviewees willing to appear with their real names and photos was much harder. Older members of the LGBTI community in particular were sceptical. There were many concerns: how might colleagues react? Could it cause problems for their children or partner? And I cannot blame them. Last week, I witnessed the prejudices described theoretically in the article twice in real life. On Monday, this included appalling comments about how “disgusting” a gay couple’s very innocent kiss was. And I stumbled across the website of “Bund Katholischer Ärzte”, who actually want to “cure” homosexuality with homeopathy… Terrible. Anyone who wants to see it with their own eyes can take a look at the site here. DJ Sven Heartcrash cheerfully tosses a vinyl record across the room. DJ Sven Heartcrash. Copyright Katharina Dubno 2011 Does he experience acceptance and tolerance in Mainz? Gallery owner Rolf Weber also had his say. Mainz gallery owner Rolf Weber. Copyright Katharina Dubno 2011

Individual lives beyond clichés

That makes it all the more important to live acceptance and tolerance, and to show that gay and lesbian life in Mainz is more than the usual clichés of “party gays” and “granola lesbians”. It is diverse, deeply personal and sometimes as provincial and home-loving as you would expect of the small city of Mainz. Quite simply normal, individual lives that deserve acceptance just as every other lifestyle does. So let us live acceptance and tolerance! We need these values every day, not only for our LGBTI communities, but also in intercultural coexistence and as a strong foundation for our social competence. If we succeed, we can also make our everyday lives together successful and happy. I look forward to your comments and emails! PS: The fantastic photos are by Katharina Dubno. Thank you again for the successful collaboration!