Baumstark Goes Non-Profit
By Heather Elizabeth Peterson
Philia

Baumstark-online, a Christian site for German-speaking boylovers and girl-lovers, has acquired non-profit status and is undergoing revisions.

Baumstark was founded in 1997 by the Rev. Andreas Mulack, a German Protestant minister who wished to make an outreach to the adults he encountered online who were sexually attracted to boys and girls. Since that time, Baumstark has run a general forum for minor-attracted adults, as well as offering resources for Christian boylovers and girl-lovers. Baumstark will also refer minor-attracted adults to therapists should they assist such help.

Simon, a Christian girl-lover who serves as co-Webmaster of the site, says that Mr. Mulack decided to revise the site because many of the essays were written at a time when he knew much less about pedophilia. In addition, says Simon, there will be "a completely new system for the forum in which you will be able to register a username to avoid misuse of your [nickname]. You can edit your postings yourself and administrators can easily change or remove postings."

Simon says that the changes were required because of "a company that complained about a user in Baumstark using a nick that is also their product's name."

In addition, Baumstark, which is based in Munich, has been granted the status of a Verein (non-profit association). This will allow Germans to make tax-deductible donations to the group.

Baumstark plans to re-open the site by mid-August. An English-language version of the site will be unveiled at that time, and the administrators hope eventually to translate the site into Spanish and Japanese.

Related Link

Baumstark Leben (German)