Homolulu – The Birth of a Volcano or the Attempt to Make Utopia Reality was the first international homosexual conference in Frankfurt am Main. It took place from the 23rd to the 29th of July 1979, in a time when the terms “LGBTIQ” and “queer” weren’t yet widely known in (West) Germany. At the time, „Homo“ referred to both gay and lesbian, though judging by the audience, it was mainly the gays that heard the call. The timing of the conference wasn’t chosen by chance but rather on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City.

An inspiration for “Homolulu” was the “Treffen in Tunix”, which took place in West Berlin in January 1978 and became the birthplace of numerous projects involving queer people from the alternative and left-wing protest movement – the founding of the taz newspaper or the Schwarze Café in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The organizers of Homolulu had something similar in mind and oindeed, it worked: in addition to countless bookstores, the Waldschlösschen in Göttingen and the Schwulen- and Lesbenberatung are the results of Homolulu as well. In 1992 there was an attempt to set up a sequel in the newly reunified Berlin, but spirit of 1979 didn’t take hold in the same way.

For many, Homolulu was a turning point. Comic artist Ralf König (at that time not yet 19) narrated (and illustrated) the times in his book “…und das mit links”. As the Object of the Month for July, we’re displaying the book and some photos shot by Rolf Fischer in our museum café. In addition, we feature three buttons from our archive: two from 1979 and one from 1992.