Queer issues are still marginalized in the medical curriculum. As a result, medical practitioners are often ill-equipped to help queer people effectively and understand their life situations. Fear of contact, misconceptions, and generalizations of many clients may have an impact on clinical practice. This event series wants to help break this cycle. It is dedicated to the topic of queer parenthood in order to promote LGBTIQ+ health, and to break with heteronormative family images. In addition to workshops, there will be book presentations and film screenings that will not only empower queer people, but also empower and network multipliers.

The event is organized by the critical medical students, the queer peer advising at TUD, the GENOW university group, Gerede e.V. and the Complaints Office at TUD.

Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Free State of Saxony under the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments.

Program

May 15, 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: “What is queer parenting?” online lunchtime discussion
May 16, 2023, 7:00 pm “Sea Horse. The Dad Who Gave Birth” film screening
May 23, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm “Queer parenting from a legal perspective” lecture
June 5, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm “Presentation of the Glitzerkiste and children’s books on rainbow families” workshop
June 7, 2023, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm “Caring for LGBTIQ+ patients” workshop
June 15, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm “Discussion on the connection between refugees, migration and LGBTIQ+ family relationships”
June 19, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm ““Of mothers, single parents and pregnant fathers: empirical insights into queer reproductive practices” lecture
June 21, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm “Home insemination” workshop
June 22, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm “Induced lactation” workshop
June 29, 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm “Selbstbestimmt. Für reproduktive Rechte” book presentation

All events will be held in German. However, whispered interpretation into English is available on request.
We would like for this event to be as accessible as possible. If there are any hurdles preventing you from participating in the event, please let us know.

If you would already like to register for an event, please send an email with your full name to the following address:  bystander@tu-dresden.de

Moreover, the “Strengthening the father role” workshop will take place on June, 7. This workshop is organized by Diversity Management at TU Dresden.

"What is queer parenting" online lunchtime discussion

May 15, 2023, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm, online

When we talk about queer parenting, most people have very different ideas of what it is exactly. Does it mean that the parents aren’t heterosexual? Or that they have broken free from the gender binary? Or maybe queer parenting represents an alternative family model? This short introductory workshop will focus on the diversity of these ideas and the real challenges that come with queer parenting. We will take a look at the prejudices and discrimination that queer parents and their children face, and will explore the question of what societal changes are needed to create an inclusive and diverse society where queer parenting is not seen as something unusual.

"Sea Horse. The Dad who gave birth" film screening

May 16, 2023, 7:00 pm, film screening

On top of the usual challenges pregnancy and parenthood bring, trans parents are confronted with various challenges with regard to the health system, the legal system, and societal expectations of gender and parenthood. On May 16, 2023 at 7:00 pm, we will be showing the documentary “Sea Horse. The Dad Who Gave Birth.” The film accompanies Freddy, a 30-year-old trans man, from the preparation for his pregnancy through to birth. Through intimate, emotional interviews with Freddy, his partner and medical professionals, the film explores the often unnoticed experiences of trans parents.

"Queer parenting from a legal perspective" lecture

May 23, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, event held on site with the option to attend online

Queer parenting still faces legal challenges in Germany today. How does adopting a stepchild work? What options are there for queer couples to have children? Sperm donation – who can do this legally? And under what circumstances? How does the legal recognition of trans, intersex and non-binary parents work? We will look at these and many more questions in our lecture, and we will also provide contact details and let you know where you can find more information.
Registration is open until May, 21. Via: veranstaltung@gerede-dresden.de
Speakers: Zoe Hetmeier (Advisor, Glitzerkiste), Anne Liebeck (Adult Education) from Gerede.

Presentation of the Glitzerkiste and children's books on rainbow families

June 5, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, event held on site with the option to attend online

Patchwork families, lesbian and gay parents, families with trans children, and co-parenting...we have long been aware of how many different family models there are. But most well-known children's books only depict white, middle-class, heteronormative nuclear families. Why is it important to depict diverse family models and queer lifestyles in children's books? And what can queer and non-discriminatory children's literature look like? We want to discuss these questions as a group. Alongside a presentation of the “Glitzerkiste” project and a group discussion on diversity in children's books, there will be time to browse and read some fantastic books.

Speaker: Gerede

"Caring for LGBTIQ+ patients" workshop

June 7, 2023, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, event held on site with the option to attend online

It is essential that there is trust between the practitioner and the patient to ensure people receive high-quality medical treatment in accordance to their needs.

Patients who have had bad experiences in the health system often lack this trust. This also includes trans, intersex and non-binary people, and anyone else who identifies outside of the gender binary. Moreover, their needs may not be sufficiently seen and taken into account because they are not known to the practitioners.

The workshop raises awareness of the perspectives, hurdles and needs faced by trans, intersex and non-binary people in health care.

By working in small groups and completing practice exercises, you will learn practical tips for your day-to-day work. In addition, suggestions will be given on how health care can be organized in such a way that trans, inter and non-binary people feel welcome.

We want to create a space conductive to learning where it is okay to make mistakes, where questions and doubts can be expressed, and various expertise are brought together profitably.

Workshop lead by: Nick Heinz (he/him) and Lio Riske (-) from Trans-Inter-Aktiv in Mitteldeutschland

Discussion on the connection between refugees, migration and LGBTIQ+ family relationships

June 15, 2023 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, on site

This discussion will focus on the fact that the diversity of family models is generally not considered in the context of refugees and migration. We tend to only see hetronormative family images for refugees, with LGBTIQ+ refugees achieving little visibility – both in their home and host countries. This discussion aims to shed light on areas where we fall short, and where refugees are vulnerable. It also aims to provide a space where we can reflect on our own stances.

"Of mothers, single parents and pregnant fathers: empirical insights into queer people negotiating conception" lecture

June 19, 2023, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm, event held on site with the option to attend online

One, two or three parents, “spunkles”, single parents and lesbian conception – our definitions of who or what a family is and who can start a family has changed a lot in the past decades. On the basis of qualitative interviews with lesbian and queer couples as well as pregnant trans men, this lecture explores how those interviewed imagine and practice family, kinship, gender and reproduction. The aim is to give an insight into their experiences and to ask which new forms of inclusion and exclusion of LGBTIQ+ families can be observed against the background of current social and legal developments.
Speakers: Dr. Sarah Dionisius, Psychosocial Advisor at the rubicon e.V. in Cologne and Advisor at the Internationale Gesellschaft für erzieherische Hilfen (International Society for Educational Support) in Frankfurt am Main as well as freelance educational work on sexual, gender and family diversity and LGBTIQ+ pregnancy support and obstetrics.

"Home insemination" and "Induced lactation" workshops

June 21, 2023; 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm and June 22, 2023, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm, on site

Home insemination is a method of achieving pregnancy. This workshop explores the anatomy and physiology how pregnancy happens and specifies methods of home insemination.
Induced lactation refers to the production of breast milk without recent pregnancy.
These information evenings are safe spaces where questions can be asked and we reserve time for discussions.

Charlotte (she/her) will lead these workshops. Charlotte is a freelance pre- and postnatal carer at Kreißsaal clinic. She advocates for LGBTIQ+ birthing care.

"Selbstbestimmt. Für reproduktive Rechte" book presentation with author Dinah Riese

June 29, 2023 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm, on site

Women and queer people still struggle for the right to make autonomous decisions about their own bodies, and their bodies are still subject to government control. Forced sterilizations, abortions, access to contraception, maternal mortality in childbirth – these are all related to how the right of control over our own bodies is formulated and implemented. Whose children are desired, even demanded, and whose are not, says a lot about the state of human rights in a society. It is a characteristic of fundamentalist and right-wing regimes to fight and suppress reproductive rights. But even in democracies, these rights are by no means fully achieved.
Using numerous examples from India to the USA to Argentina, the authors describe the feminist struggle for bodily autonomy.