BiJou 26 - BiNe Bisexuelles Netzwerk eV

of the alleged interests of the
child, when the parents can’t
agree, there are many questions
such as the following that are
getting increasingly difficult to
answer and can only be dealt
with on a case to case basis:
• Who gets to decide where
the kids go to school?
• What should a mother
do if she wants to apply for a
passport for her child and the
father refuses his signature?
• What to do when a new
relationship takes away a divorced
partner’s rights to alimony
although the family is still dependent
on it?
Not even gay marriage has
an answer to these questions.
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7. Conclusion
For pragmatic reasons I am in
favour of gay marriage because
it’s one step closer towards acceptance
and recognition of
non-heterosexual relationships.
As a bisexual woman myself,
I profit from this progress as
well because the social climate
in general is starting to be
more open towards women in
sexual and love relationships
with other women. For asylum
and the right not to testify, gay
marriage might prove to be an
important cornerstone.
Bi in the City
Bi meeting meeting in Munich
2012 – I can’t put it any
other way – has had an incredibly
positive development for
the bisexual movement – for us.
A new meeting in Berlin and
now another one in Munich.
The Munich Stammtisch* invited
to the “Bi in the City” get
together on the weekend from
the 12th to 14th of October.
22 participants showed up at
Café Regenbogen in the rooms
of the Munich AIDS Assistance,
to (re)connect, attend interesting
workshops, and to have a
good time with each other. Representatives
of local groups
like LeTra, RosaAlter, Bisexual
fathers, Queer Amnesty Munich,
or Diversity e.V. also took up
the invitation.
It started informally on Friday
evening at 7pm. Marion
from the Bi-Stammtisch welcomed
the first guests and we
42
Basically, I, as a bisexual
woman, am looking for a much
broader legal reform, and gay
marriage is just a transitional
stage on the way to the bigger
goal.
Vera
ended the evening with a private
screening of Drei by Tom
Tykwer, a fantastic bi-poly film.
The meeting officially began
on Saturday. The Stammtisch
managed to get members of
Munich municipal politics, Thomas
Niederbühl (counsellor of
the Pink List as well as member
of the team of directors of the
Munich AIDS Assistance ) and
Andreas Unterforsthuber (head
of the Munich coordination of-
Bisexual Pirat
Actually the member of Berlin‘s state parliament Gerwald Claus-
Brunner from The Pirates came out as a bisexual:
http://wiki.piratenpartei.de/BE:Kandidat_Gerwald_Claus-Brunner
http://www.queer.de/detail.php?article_id=15036
fice for same-sex lifestyles) to
do the opening words.
Niederbühl was very pleased
with the meeting and praised
it as a sign for a new kind of
bisexual visibility – especially
within the Munich community.
He called for more bisexuals
to show themselves, but also
conceded that the gay-lesbian
scene often fails to see and
recognise bisexuals and sometimes
refuses to acknowledge
them as an equal part of the
community. Then the weekend
plans were briefly explained
and available workshops announced.
Here an overview of the workshops:
• “Beyond Monogamy”: Two
active members of the Poly-
Stammtisch posed a set of
questions to which participants
could answer by holding up a
red paper heart for “yes”, and
leaving it down for “no”. They
could then talk about their personal
relationship situations. A
safe environment was formed
which allowed for and elicited
more openness.
• “Bi-lesbian: Limitations /
Opportunities?!“ Bisexuals and
lesbians discussed and shared
ideas
• “Bi-movement in past and
present“: BiNe board member
Hartmut gave an informative
overview “The Goddess is bi “:
What is religion’s (Christianity,
Islam, Judism, etc) attitude towards
bisexuality?
• “HIV and other STDs“: Munich
AIDS Assistance offered information
• “Bisexuality and human
rights“: Queer Amnesty Munich.
• “Integral Relationships – and
does that have anything to do
BiJou 26
with bisexuality?“:
Ken Wilbers integral
approach on understanding
the world
was introduced and
it was discussed how
it could stand for an
understanding of relationships
between
bisexual people.
• “Bi Online“: What
websites that deal
with bisexuality in
any way exists on the
internet?
• “Mediation and
Thomas Niederbühl, Marion, Andreas Unterforsthuber
Coaching in Bisexuality“:
What is mediation?
What is coaching?
Thomas informed and reported
about his professional practise.
The meeting came to a close
with a feedback session around
4pm on Sunday. The organisational
team of the Munich Stammtisch
received many thanks and
there are already ideas for next
year’s meeting.
Christoph
Munich AIDS Assistance and Café Rainbow
43
* A Stammtisch is an old
German tradition where a restaurant
or café sets aside a table
for a group of people who
regularly get together to hang
out and have social and political
discussions