Rosa von Praunheim
Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, painter and one of the most famous gay rights activists in the German-speaking world.[1] In over 50 years, von Praunheim has made more than 150 films (short and feature-length), and is considered a pioneer of Queer Cinema. His works influenced the development of LGBTQ+ rights movements worldwide.
He took the artistic female name Rosa von Praunheim to remind people of the pink triangle[2] that homosexuals had to wear in Nazi concentration camps, as well as the Frankfurt neighborhood of Praunheim where he was raised. His films have featured MAP / AAM allies such as ACT-UP's Larry Kramer,[3] writers William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, and founding member of NAMBLA prof. Tom Reeves.
References
- ↑ "Germany's most famous gay rights activist: Rosa von Praunheim". Deutsche Welle.
- ↑ (Pink Triangle translates as "Rosa Winkel" in German).
- ↑ As quoted in our page on MAP-LGBT unity: "In those cases where children do have sex with their homosexual elders... I submit that often, very often, the child desires the activity, and perhaps even solicits it, either because of a natural curiosity... or because he or she is homosexual and innately knows it. ... And unlike girls or women forced into rape or traumatized, most gay men have warm memories of their earliest and early sexual encounters; when we share these stories with each other, they are invariably positive ones.". - Larry Kramer (ACT-UP) in Reports from the Holocaust, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.