Mann-O-Meter
Information office and assistance for gay men
What a man needs to know before stepping out on the scene can be found out here, where Else-Lasker-Schüler-Straße meets Karl-Heinrich-Ullrichs-Straße on the corner of Bülowstraße. Mann-O-Meter has been Berlin’s gay checkpoint since 1986, with a café and information centre where you can find out what’s happening on the scene, or get advice and help.
The counselling service is as diverse as gay life itself. Mann-O-Meter provides information on events and places to go in the city, as well as help on matters such as coming out or loneliness in old age. It provides assistance with problems, whether medical, for example with anonymous HIV tests, or psychological, such as relationship troubles, or legal, such as discrimination at work. The gay anti-violence project Maneo also offers its support here.
Many initiatives for a diverse, non-discriminatory rainbow neighbourhood originate here, including the Lesbian and Gay Street Festival, which has become the highlight among the queer summer festivals.
One of the association's key concerns right from the beginning was practical AIDS assistance. Today, as well as advice, Mann-O-Meter also offers quick tests for HIV and other diseases. Another of its strengths is its self-help and leisure groups. In addition, the association is also committed to the fight against homophobia. The Maneo Anti-Violence Project run by the association includes the gay emergency hotline in the heart of the gay scene in Schöneberg.
