Rolf schmachtenberg biography of michael

Long Ways.

The first time I had sex with a man, it was still forbidden – it happened in what was then West Germany.

Shortly after that, rumours about a newly discovered virus began to spread. Deadly.

Rolf schmachtenberg biography of michael

Soon it was clear that homosexual men were particularly affected. The German magazine Der Spiegel wrote about the “Schwulen-Pest,” a translation of the term Gay Plague. We had to be cautious.

This would not have been possible without fundamental changes in our laws during the last 30 years. What seems to be nothing special today was wishful dreaming or even unthinkable back then.

It has liberated me.

I came out when I moved to Berlin, quite late, at t