living gender plurality, working against discrimination

Hello, my name is René_ Rain Hornstein.

I teach and I conduct research about diverse topics within Trans* Studies and Trans* Psychology.

In January 2019 I started working on my PhD project at the Technical University Braunschweig in cooperation with Sigmund Freud University Berlin. My PhD topic is internalized trans* oppression. My research is happening within the context of the research department „Embracing Ambiguity – Diversity, Empowerment and Intersectional Competence“ at the SFU Berlin. I finished my psychology degree at the University of Osnabrück in 2017 with my diploma thesis on trans* allyship. Since then my official title is Diplom-Psycholog*in (abbreviated as Dipl.-Psych.*in) which is the equivalent to a Master‘s degree in many countries. During my studies I spent a semester at the Gender Studies department of Université VIII St. Denis (2012/13) and some time at Humboldt University Berlin (2013/14).

I have published on the topics of trans* allyship, Gender Studies as an expansion of perspectives, dealing with resistance against the addressing of discrimination (under the rubric of fragility, especially cis fragility), potential ways of supporting trans* and non-binary students at schools and universities, as well as how to reduce trans* discriminatory structures in higher education. I also co-edited an anthology of German Trans and Intersex Studies in 2021 and published about male cisgender identities and disidentification processes.

I am currently co-editing a textbook about trans*, intersex and non-binary genders together with Christel Baltes-Löhr which will be the first German language textbook on this topic, as far as I am aware.

In the past I have given workshops and lectures on non-binary identities and non-binary perspectives on trans* politics, legal developments in Germany concerning trans*, intersex and non-binary people, psychotherapeutic work with sexually and gender diverse populations, gender-inclusive German, non-binary empowerment, cis fragility as well as internalized trans* oppression.

I am active in different groups with the goal of furthering equality. I am the co-founder of the Federal Trans* Association of Germany (BVT* – Bundesverband Trans*) in 2015 and have been a member of its executive committee from 2015 until 2017. In 2014 I co-founded the working group on trans* emancipatory higher education politics (AG trans*emanzipatorische Hochschulpolitik). Since 2018 I am working for the advancement of the legal rights of trans*, intersex and non-binary people. The group TIN Legal Aid (TIN-Rechtshilfe) has grown out of this legal activism and I am supporting strategic litigation in Germany and on the EU level since then.

My pronoun is they and them in English. For english-speaking contexts I mostly use the first name Rain whilst my full name is René_ Rain Hornstein.

I am happy to collaborate in English, German and French and I am looking forward to collaborations within Germany as well as internationally.

Feel free to contact me through my contact form.