It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives

Join Goethe-Institut Houston and our friends at for Retrospective Series of three of Rosa von Praunheim's most iconic films. On April 29th we screen von Praunheim's 1971 classic It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives in Skylawn Room on the roof of POST.

Rosa von Praunheim (born Holger Mischwitzky, 1942–2025) was a German filmmaker, writer, and one of the most influential gay rights activists in German-speaking Europe. His artist name Rosa refers to the pink triangle (rosa Winkel) that homosexuals were forced to wear in the Nazi concentration camps. A central figure of New German Cinema and queer counterculture, he made more than 150 films over five decades, consistently combining art, provocation, and political activism.

A harsh but deeply sympathetic sociological essay film about gay life in West Berlin in a time of secrecy and oppression, with narration voiceover instead of original sound. Daniel, a young man from the provinces moves to Berlin and navigates gay relationships, subcultures, and everyday survival in a hostile social environment. Blending staged scenes with an assertive voice-over, the film examines how social repression, conformity, and internalized shame shape gay life. It offers a sharp, confrontational portrait of queer existence in early 1970s West Germany.
Run time: 1 hr 7 min.
Language: German with English subtitles
Rating (Germany): 12 years and up (nudity and sexual content)

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Host or Publisher Goethe-Institut Houston