Munich
Mike's Speech
It is said that inquiring minds want to know, and that seems especially true of the minds of Gay and Lesbian Germans of Munich, Germany.
The folks at the Munich Ulrichs Committee, the Homosexuality and History Forum, the Pink List political action committee, and the Munich Gay center "SUB" decided early in 2000 to honor Ulrichs with a series of lectures in Ulrichs' honor.
To coincide with Ulrichs' August birthday and because they knew Michael would be in Italy for Ulrichs' birthday, the group asked Mike to give a presentation. Since it was scheduled for August 24, it kicked off a series of events in Munich, including an Ulrichs' birthday party on August 26 on Karl-Heinrich-Ulrichs-Platz.
So it was that a happy group of men and one woman gathered on a balmy night at the Café Regenbogen (Rainbow Cafe) on Lindwurm Strasse to hear Mike tell all he knew about "Ulrichs and America." Especially pleasing to Michael was having a woman in the audience. He was told later that she was grappling with coming out, and the speech was very inspiring to her. There was even an Afro-American in attendance. Finally, a couple in attendance had visited Ulrichs' grave earlier in the year.
The Café Regenbogen, a nice building several stories high located in a pleasant neighborhood, is run by AIDS-Hilfe. The group provides many services for persons with AIDS, including lodging. The first floor room has a cafe and space for meetings.
As a nod to his hosts and as another way to honor Ulrichs, Michael, after writing his speech in English, presented his talk in German. The speech was very well received and video-recorded by the folks from the Homosexuality & History Forum for their archives. The speeches in the lecture series have been published by the Verlag rosa Winkel (see also Publications).
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