Nicht der Homosexuelle ist pervers, sondern die Situation, in der er lebt

Daniel and Clemens fall in love, move in together, and attempt to imitate a conventional bourgeois marriage. But when their relationship falls apart after four months, Daniel plunges ever deeper into Berlin’s gay subculture: he works in a gay café, cruises through parks and public restrooms, and eventually meets Paul, who invites him to join his gay communal apartment. There, passionate debates unfold—about identity, politics, and self-perception—and Daniel’s view of himself and the world changes profoundly.

In what is arguably Rosa von Praunheim’s best-known work, the attacks are not directed at external oppressors, but at the community itself. The film’s provocative thesis is that the situation in which homosexuals live is, in part, self-inflicted. The result was confusion, outrage, and dismay within the gay community—but also mobilization, activism, coming out, and solidarity. The film’s broadcast on German television caused a scandal and at the same time marked a key catalyst for the modern German lesbian and gay movement.