Queer Identities

It might seem flattering at first to present queerness as new, presented in a new futuristic design. Denying the history of transgender, intersex, homosexual and non-binary people is one of the most effective ways of undermining the queer community and calling its rights into question. We exist. And always have. So if any proof be needed, here’s a recap of the last hundred queer years in Germany.
 

Need to stretch your legs, have a quick espresso or pop to the loo? That’s by no means all that happens at motorway services and lay-bys. Such rest areas lead a secretive double life: in the gay scene they are known as cruising spots where people meet to have sex. Jan Künemund has documented the history of motorway services as places of sexual dissidence.

Brazilian anthropologist Luiz Mott is the figurehead of the campaign for citizens’ rights for the LGBTQ+ community in Latin America and its history. In his research he has established that persecution for sexual motives coincides with the start of colonisation of the continent.

Queer Eye Germany offers a very different take on a binge-able series. The show is … nice. Charming. Inspiring, even. The premise is that a crew of host experts, all proudly queer, drops in on a different person each episode and helps them rethink their life, aided and abetted by a new wardrobe and a remodeled pad. But the true makeovers here happen on the psychic and emotional levels.

“Druck” (Pressure) is a young adult television series that features authentic actors and dialogue. Most of the actors are amateurs, and the transgender character is played by a trans man. The show has been a run-away success.

Monika Treut is considered to be one of the pioneers of Queer Cinema. In this interview the film director and producer talks about positive developments in western societies, repressive trends and things that aren’t quite running as they should. 

The problem of unpaid care work is attracting increasing attention. But what are so-called queer care communities and why are they still needed? Alek B. Gerber describes how people feel compelled to close the supply gaps in public nursing care themselves.
 

What does being a man mean? We have asked a few people in Germany what masculinity means to them.

Same-sex marriage and the third gender are legally recognized in Germany. But what are the consequences for the families concerned? An interview with professor of family law Nina Dethloff.

Personifications of precarious lives and fraying pasts, the poems weave a tale of the joys, perils, and imperfections of queer freedom.

How can the inward and outward queer gaze be freeing not only for individuals but also for the community? More so, what is the extent of such freedom? This essay is an exploration of many such questions.

The Argentinean writer Camila Sosa Villada defends the term “travesti” in contrast to the category “trans woman,” says she considers “identity a prison” and states categorically that: “People love our suffering.”

The artists Anna Heger and Sam Orchard send their avatars to various places in New Zealand and Germany for the comic series “Queer Comic Conversations”. They talk about their experiences as queer people, encounters with hatred and violence and about support systems.

Poet Timimie Märak is Sámi and a gender queer lesbian. In their poem, Timimie processes the different facets of their identity.