Chris
Janik
Germany
Mr Gay Europe 2023
Why do you want to take part in MGE23
Although I live in Germany and we have here a good legislation for LGBTQIA+ people, we should never stop and think it’s enough. Beside this I often experience hate on social media and missing acceptance of my way of life. So it’s important for me to set positive accents and to show people that me and my husband are a part of this world. That’s why we are making TikTok and showing people our life.
Then it’s important to participate to show gays that older generations are also attractive and can be a part of such contest.
What is the biggest LGBT challenge in Europe today
People often think that there is no reason to demonstrate or to show us in public because of “you reached all what you need”. Reading hate comments under our videos I know that there is still a long way before us. And I know that there are LGBT+ people living in countries where they have nothing to laugh. The challenge is to show our country communities that we are a part of them and that we are also human beings like them. To learn people that not everybody has to be like other people and that this is what makes our world really colorful.
The biggest challenge is to reach the same rights for every person! It could not be that only because of people’s sexuality they are limited in their rights. Rights which every person has to get from begin of our life.
Your profession / study
Clinical psychology and psychotherapy / in my earlier life I was working in an office
Your hobbies
Making videos, reading, gym, painting
Why should you become MGE23
I was raped in 2003. After that I was diagnosed with HIV. This was such a shock for me that I get depressed. I tried to overcome of this with drugs. In 2008 I went to psychiatry with a ptsd, drug abuse and panic disorder. I stoped drugs in 2010, finished my psychotherapy after 5 years in 2013. Now I am studying in Hamburg “Clinical psychology and psychotherapy” to become a therapist and help other people (maybe especially gay men) to overcome their own trauma and start a new healthy life.
I can be a good role model. There were horrible things happened to me but I managed them and can show people that everyone has his own strength and power to create his own world. And so to contribute his part to the big whole.
What is the biggest mental health challenge in the LGBT community today
Many young people become depressive because they have to live a secret life. They can’t be themselves. The Report on the Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans People concludes that mental health inequalities between LGBT people and the rest of the population are pronounced. This was announced by the Federal Council. According to the research report by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the disadvantage primarily affects mental and sexual health. Tobacco and alcohol are consumed more frequently by respondents compared to the rest of the population, the study further reveals. They also use cannabis or other psychoactive substances more frequently.
Sexual and gender minorities are at far greater risk than the general population of attempting suicide from an early age. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the state university in Milan’s Bicocca district
According to this, LGBTI people have a rounded up four to six times higher risk of attempting suicide. The suicide risk is highest among trans people (factor 5.77), followed by bisexuals (factor 4.87) and homosexuals (factor 3.71).
Our community should develop a better awareness of public opinion and encourage the relevant state institutions to take these findings into account when planning and implementing their strategies.
Studies have already shown in the past that it is not sexual orientation or gender identity that directly contribute to higher rates of depression or suicide attempts, but rejection by a hostile environment. So we should develop support programs for LGBTI young people, better access to psychological counseling and government efforts to combat homophobia and transphobia in society are therefore necessary.
Your idea for your national costume
I have still to think about it. Maybe a men’s suit with german flags.