Rainer Herrn has been Director of the Research Center for the History of Sexology of the Magnus Hirschfeld Society in Berlin, Germany since 1992. He previously held a research fellowship in the Philosophy Department of Humboldt University in Berlin (1989-1991), and was a Scientific Fellow and Director of the Institute for Population Genetics at Karl Marx University in Leipzig, Germany (1986-1989). Dr. Herrn specializes in behavioral studies and the history of Sexology, and is the author of several books and articles. His history of the gay movement in Germany entitled Anders bewegt: 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung in Deutschland was published in 1999, as was his study of gay lifestyles, entitled Schwule Lebenswelten im Osten: Andere Orte, andere Biographien–Kommunikationsstrukturen, Gesellungstile und Lebensweisen schwuler Männer in den neuen Ländern. Dr. Herrn’s article “On the History of Biological Theories of Homosexuality” appeared in the Journal of Homosexuality in 1995. Dr. Herrn has also curated several historical exhibitions concerning homosexuality, including “100 Years of the Gay Rights Movement in Germany,” which he created for the Goethe Institute and which appeared among other places in New York, San Francisco, London, England, and Sydney, Australia. He is also currently active in developing strategies to prevent the spread of HIV in the former East Germany.
