Panel Discussion “Loneliness in the Queer Community”

This discussion forum provides a crucial opportunity to comprehend the challenges of loneliness within the queer community and to develop constructive approaches for improvement. As loneliness does not feel the same for everyone and does not have the same causes for everyone, we want to look at some specific aspects of loneliness in order to find realistic solutions together. We invite you to actively participate in this discussion, even in advance, by submitting questions and sharing ideas.

We are bringing together wonderful guest speakers who can offer valuable insights into this pressing issue through their expertise and experience. Our guests are:

• Prof. Dr. Anna Steigemann (Moderation): urban researcher and sociologist and works as a professor at the University of Regensburg and the TU Berlin. Her research focuses on gender, migration, diversity and the city, community and neighborhood studies, queer-feminist urban criticism, spatial practices, critical participation and governance research, and qualitative spatial and social research methods.

• Lilith Raza: queer-trans activist from Pakistan, living in Germany since 2012. She actively advocates for the rights of LGBTIQ+ refugees, works with the “Queer Refugees Deutschland” project at LSVD (Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany), and is actively involved in queer networks throughout Europe.

• Deniz Yıldırım Doğan: Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter und Assistenzarzt an der Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie an der Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, wird wertvolle Einblicke in die psychische Gesundheit in der queeren Community bieten.

• Prof. Dr. Mirjam Fischer: sociologist specializing in sexual and gender diversity in Europe. She currently holds a visiting professorship in Gender Studies at Humboldt University Berlin and serves as a research associate at the Institute for Empirical-Analytical Research at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.

• Tomer Einav: Pharmacist and researcher at Charité Berlin, Specialist in sexual health and HIV treatment, prevention, and education.

• Dr. Jochen Kleres: is a sociologist and focused his research on queer movements and AIDS organizations, currently he works as a dance therapist with the psychiatric department of Königin Elisabeth Herzberge Krankenhaus, he facilitates the workshop series on queer loneliness at the Village.

More info and also an ongoing loneliness survey and program overview of free events can be found here. Fragen im Vorfeld könnt ihr gern unter stellen.

In Zusammenarbeit mit der Landesstelle für Gleichbehandlung – gegen Diskriminierung hat sich we are village | queer matters für das Jahr 2023/2024 zum Ziel gesetzt, das Thema Einsamkeit in der queeren Community anzugehen.