photo: Andi Weiland:
It was one of the quietest Saturday nights of my past 12 years in Berlin. Without any particular expectations a friend and I drove with the bikes from Kreuzberg to Brandenburger Tor while the sun light slowly started to decrease as the evening went on. As soon as we were there I felt my heart change in speed. The whole place was packed with men, women and kids. Some faces seemed familiar from late nights, parties and bars spend in the queer scene. Others I recognized from my everyday life in offices, cafes, bakeries or pharmacies. Does it matter who the people are who mourn for the victims in Orlando? Does is matter if they are young, old, gay, straight, black, white, trans or cis? For me it didn’t. I saw a place filled with heartfelt sorrow. With tears and cries and shattered minds, not able to understand and not able to forget the latest attack.
Nightclubs are a special place in the LGBTI world. On the first look they just seem to be a place for easy flirts, pumped bodies and shallow excitement. An arena of hedonism and a vanity fair. Where broken hearts and sucked dicks exchange numbers just to never actually call each other. But beyond the surface you might find out that nightclubs are a unique place for self exploration. Where first kisses are exchanged and drag stars are born. They offer safety and comfort under the shine of the disco lights to the ones who get discriminated and mistreated in their daily life just for not fitting in.
The shooting in Orlando hit the LGBT communities all around the world by attacking this safe haven. As Berliners we know the power and magic of nightclubs and could feel the horror on our skins, while reading the news about the deaths of the Orlando victims who just wanted to spend a night out with their friends or lovers.
On Saturday night the Brandenburger Tor for the first time in history was illuminated in the colors of the rainbow. But what matters where the radiant hearts of the Berliners that came. Under the collective mourn I felt a community that was not necessarily connected by the same experiences of discrimination or shared sex preferences. Berlin showed the world that its inhabitants are out and proud. Not afraid of hate and not afraid to love.
As the gathering slowly dissolved I felt so happy to be part of this community and at the same time so sad that it took such horrible event to bring us all together. Our impressions of the memorial after the jump.
Read on…
by Claudio | Photos, Stories
photo: James K. Adams, Professor of Biology, Dalton State College
Two weeks ago I read an article about a rare genetic disposition in which animals or insect have both male and female characteristics, evenly split, right down the middle. This results for example in spectacular and beautiful butterflies with one female and one male wing. Butterflies that are happily flying freely over flowers and grass all around the world. Nobody would think about hunting down, torturing or killing these butterflies just because they look different than their species’ companions. Would parents cover the eyes of their children if one of this rare butterflies would fly around them? Would people protest and start hate groups on Facebook to exterminate all non-symmetrical butterflies? Obviously not! Why should anybody do this? It would be simply idiotic.
Sadly, the human species is less tolerant (and also less intelligent) when it comes to behave towards the individuals of their own kind. A couple of years ago a singer with a face half woman and half man won an international voting contest all over Europe. Exactly like one of this rare butterflies, Conchita Wurst stood out in a music contest featuring boring mainstream entertainment and surprised everybody with an exceptional triumph. Unfortunately this message of tolerance remained not without consequences: Extremist hate groups, Russian right wing politicians and fanatic conservative forces all over the planet are now concentrating their hate on the Austrian drag queen. But also Berlin is not free of all kind of intolerance and hate crimes. Some thoughts about the current situation and what we can do to help it stop after the jump.
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by Claudio | Stories
Tilda Swinton raising the flag for LGBTs
Who said Bloggers could not change the world post by post. Actually I think everybody who has a certain following on the web should consider the responsibility of the daily messages we are sending out. Fortunately there are some of them out there: Fellow blogger Norman Röhling from i-ref used the full potential of his blog and his social network when he realized how homosexuals were treated in Russia after the passing of the current law that prohibits all homosexual “propaganda” meaning actually all kinds of homosexual behaviour in public and all kinds of homosexual communication – basically banning homosexuality from Russia. He triggered a movement called Enough is Enough which’s goal is to stop homophobia around the world. The basic idea is not to be another LGBT association but to really create a web-based international platform where not only communication is a tool for success, but also the intelligent use and exchange of professional resources. If you want to engage with them online I recommend to you to join the Facebook group or like the Facebook page which is the first step before the online platform is launched. But if you are willing to engage in real-live protest we invite you strongly to take part on the demonstration this Saturday in Berlin or the Global Kiss-In in front of your local Russian embassy on the 8th of September at 15h. The goal is to solicit the German government and all sponsors of the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Russia to boycott the games under this humanitarian circumstances. An ambitious aim that needs a lot of support. After the jump you can see the trailer and flyer of the protest.
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by Claudio | People
I think it’s about time for equal adoption rights for same sex couples here, Frau Merkel. Every loving couple deserves the right to have a family, don’t you agree?
If you’re wondering in which countries of the world same sex couples have the right to marry and adopt children, as well as other legal and social issues concerning gay people, you should check out the Gay Travel Index by Spartacus.
by Frank | Misc.
