rubicon e.V.

Many thanks to Rubicon! It was fantastic and incredibly important that a meeting place and safe haven for LGBT people was offered here as part of the CSD event! A wonderful place for community and exchange. Highly recommended!

When I needed help, the psychologist was supposed to call me back. Three weeks later, I received a phone call asking if my problem had been resolved. Rubicon used to be a place where everyone, including older gay men, could feel comfortable and receive support. Unfortunately, Rubicon is increasingly becoming a trans meeting place.

On the one hand, Rubicon offers good counseling and support services. Unfortunately, they also seem incredibly naive, allowing certain group leaders to ingratiate themselves and abuse their power to terrorize people seeking help with arbitrary, long-term group bans. I'm referring to the open meetings and the t*Raum (a space for transgender people). Many of the participants in these groups have experienced trauma related to exclusion, and the group leaders shamelessly abuse their power to retraumatize these very people! Rubicon is aware of this but does nothing about it. Therefore, I can only advise everyone: While Rubicon itself is quite helpful, the open meetings and the t*Raum are extremely dangerous due to the behavior of the group leaders! These arbitrary acts of psychological violence against traumatized individuals will sooner or later drive one of these poor souls to suicide—right before the eyes of Rubicon, which stands idly by. Aside from these blemishes, the Rubicon is indeed quite helpful. But what good is that if, at the same time, people seeking help under its roof are being terrorized by individual group leaders?

So far, I've only had experience with a self-organized group called "Meet the Enby's," where Enbys (and their friends) spend quality time together, share experiences, and do things together. The group helped me so much to feel comfortable in my body again and to socialize (especially if you have trouble making friends...like me ^^°), which led to some wonderful acquaintances and friends! Also, Rubicon is really big, with a kitchen, two large rooms, and several smaller quiet spaces, so you can isolate yourself if you're feeling overstimulated or need to have important conversations :) There are also so many more activities (including leisure activities) than I've experienced in other cities! So, give it a try! <3