Exhibition concept with panel talk and moderated social media live stream
Despite the highest number of CSD parades in the world in 2023 and a more open attitude towards LGBTQIA* people in some countries, violence and aggression against queer people continues to increase. In 2022 alone, 542 cases of hate crime against sexual orientation and/or gender identity were reported in Berlin.
Identity and gender diversity reported. These figures are rising every year in Germany, Europe and worldwide.
In Russia, the LGBTQIA* movement has been massively criminalized since 2023. In the US state of Florida, hormone therapies and medical care in connection with gender reassignment surgery for transgender minors are banned. In Germany, an AFD member of the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament is calling for prison sentences for homosexuals.
Are these general indicators of the state of a democracy? Do these conditions indicate how progressive state coexistence is? Or is it a sign of the extent to which a democratic society is at risk?
The exhibition QUEER NOW! and the panel talk planned in this context are intended to provide an opportunity to discuss these questions and the representation of sexual and gender diversity from the diverse perspectives of queer speakers. The stimulated public discourse and the presence of queer positions through an event that takes place in-house and online aims to promote the acceptance of LGBTQIA* and the development of positive attitudes among young people and adults and thus serves as educational work.
To increase the reach of the panel talk and provide media support for the discourse, a social media live stream with an online chat will be moderated at the same time, allowing participants to put questions, opinions and positions into the discussion.
The talk will be recorded and made available as an online media format on social media channels after the event, contributing to the public discussion.
This format ensures a diverse media landscape and includes the voices and realities of those who are underrepresented. Community work is a high priority here, as all initiators and speakers are part of the LGBTQIA*, have a strong voice and ensure identification with the target group. Social discrimination is complex and therefore intersectionality should play a central role in the discussion.
The speakers are invited from different areas of society (art, politics, drama and literature) in order to facilitate an open and diverse exchange.
The project will be implemented in spring 2025.
