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Herbert Rusche | |
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| Member of theBundestag | |
| In office 1985–1987 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1952-05-06)6 May 1952 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler,Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany |
| Died | 22 December 2024(2024-12-22) (aged 72) Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Party | Pirates (2009–2024) |
| Other political affiliations | The Greens (1980-2009) AUD (until 1980) |
Herbert Ludwig Rusche (6 May 1952 – 22 December 2024) was a German politician andLGBTQ activist.[1]
Rusche was born inBad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler,Rhineland-Palatinate on 6 May 1952. In his childhood, he lived in three cities. After his schooling, he lived inKaiserslautern,Heidelberg,Berlin,Hamburg,Offenbach am Main andFrankfurt am Main. Rusche left theProtestant Church in 1970 and became aBuddhist in 1977. In 1977 he also opened the firsthealth food store in Offenbach with a friend. In the 1990s he was self-employed with a telecommunication business. He encountered severe health issues and retired permanently disabled in 2004. Rusche died in Frankfurt am Main on 22 December 2024, at the age of 72.[2]
Rusche was openly gay from 1970. He, with some other friends, founded the organisationHomo Heidelbergensis in 1972, the first gay group in Heidelberg. In 1973 Rusche became a member of the organisationHomosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW). Later he worked in Frankfurt as an activist withAnderes Ufer. He then became a member inAction Group of Independent Germans in Offenbach/Frankfurt[3] and also became a member of theGreen List Hessen (GLH). In 1978 Rusche he was a GLH candidate for the parliament ofHesse, but lost with the GLH only getting 1.1% of the vote.
Later Rusche became a founding member ofSonstige politische Vereinigung DIE GRÜNEN and of the partyDie GRÜNEN. Rusche wasLandesgeschäftsführer of the Greens in Hesse. In 1982 the party won 8.6% of the vote in Hesse and the party was in parliament in Hesse (Hessischer Landtag) for the first time. The Green party later also won in federal elections and became a member of theBundestag for the first time. Rusche was a member of the Bundestag from 1985 to 1987.
During his time in Bundestag, Rusche, who wasopenlygay,[4] worked for the equalizing of theage of consent,AIDS causes, and financial help for people with AIDS. He andPetra Kelly worked on the situation inTibet. After he left the Bundestag, Rusche worked for AIDS organisations and forHomosexuelle Selbsthilfe. In 2001, Rusche leftThe Greens because of the party's political decision onKosovo. In 2003 he became a member of the new LGBT organisationWissenschaftlich-humanitäres Komitee (whk) in Hesse. From 2004 Rusche was a delegate ofBuddhistische Gemeinschaft within theDeutsche Buddhistische Union (DBU). He became one of the members of the "Rat" (board of directors) of the DBU in early 2008. On 24 August 2009, he joined theHesse chapter of theGerman Pirate Party.
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