How do you show unity and cohesion in times of social distancing? The queer community of Berlin ventures into virtual spaces to find answers.
2020 has been difficult so far – for all of us, but especially for the global queer community. With Hungary trying to strip trans people of their current rights to legally change their sex, the United Kingdom and the United States recently attacked vital anti-discrimination laws against queer people and Poland declaring a third of the country “supposedly” LGBT-free “, l institutionalized homophobia has arrived on the right at the gates of Berlin.
Today, more than ever, homosexuals must show resilience and celebrate a month of pride, resistance and solidarity – yet we are in the midst of the greatest pandemic of the last century.
photo: Topanga (Pornceptual)
How can we keep the spirit of pride alive when our main form of protest – collective visibility – has become a danger to public safety?
Most of the world pride parades have gotten bigger, events organized in recent years with dozens of decorated cars, thousands of lightly dressed participants, dance music blowing giant speaker towers and glitter everywhere – many viewed as “just another party” that has little to do with the original Stonewall riots in June 1969 led by trans color activists in New York.
The Black Lives Matter movement is currently showing that the streets continue to be one of the most comprehensive forms of protest – and as long as health protection and social distancing guidelines are followed, these forms of public protest do not necessarily to present a risk. An alternative pride march organized individually in Berlin this Saturday also follows this principle.
However, the big parades have been canceled. And homosexuals around the world have started looking for solutions online, to connect, think and find ways to come together in a digital space.
photo: Tomer Versace
Unicorns in Tech, a global network of gay people working on the technological scene, recently organized a digital Hackathon focused on new innovative solutions to this contemporary problem.
Over the course of two days, several teams came together via Zoom to create a “rainbow impression” which offers an original idea to “hack” the problem.
“This challenge really opened my eyes to the fact that our community can bring huge ideas to life if they join forces – and get started without a lot of financial support,” said Jonathan Rodriguez, designer and art director based in Berlin. . the event.
photo: Vova Popov
“Our team has offered a platform to celebrate and organize our online community, for example,” continues the creative, “We would give users monthly topics or prompts, and bring our voices together with a map and a feed. Starting with “Show us your pride – who you are and how you celebrate” and deepen with prompts like “How can we help our communities in Poland?” It was a way to “meet”, to express ourselves and to be empowered, but it is also a space to change the narrative, connect people and cities and make things happen. We have so much strength in numbers – we just need to unite. “
And not only queer techies have set themselves the task of exploding the queer spirit through cyberspace: led by Berlin’s sexceptic child Pornceptual and the infamous London Klub Verboten, five global gay groups have joined forces and organize an online DIGITAL PRIDE event aimed at providing participants with an interactive experience through panels, performances and DJ sets on Friday and Saturday June 26 and 27, 2020. Among the musicians, performers and speakers are Olympia Bukkakis, Amanda Mussi, Neele, Deepneue, Vova Popov, Irad Avni, and Tomer Versace.
photo: Sex Drive I Vlad + Panda (Pornceptuel)
“The digital space is not an unknown territory for many LGBTQI + people, because these are the spaces where many of us have taken the first steps in the exploration of our identities”, write the organizers and wish to raise awareness to “solidarity, identity, community and resistance to violence and discrimination. It is now more important than ever to be as strong as possible and to unite with the members of our community. Isolated, but together. Far, but connected. “
Berlin can be a liberated island at times, especially for queer people who find freedom in its sense for hedonism and the laissez-faire attitude. But especially in light of recent world events, queer activism can no longer be a local affair. And despite all its setbacks, 2020 could perhaps open our eyes to digital possibilities for solidarity and queer support that have not been used for too long.
So the question is: are we going to seize them?
photo: Kyle (Pornceptual)
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