We Stand in Solidarity with the LGBTQI Community in Germany — and Against Racist Instrumentalisation of Our Grief
IGLYO expresses solidarity following yesterday’s attack on Berlin Pride in Tiergarten. Our hearts go out to the victims, their loved ones, the Pride organisers, and the whole LGBTQI community in Germany.
This attack reminds us why Pride still matters and why our rights and safety as LGBTQI people should never be taken for granted. As more and more attacks and attempts at repression against queer communities occur across Europe, we must keep on uniting as a strong, resilient, and organised community that celebrates our rights and identities with respect, love, and joy.
Within the few hours since the attack, we are already observing how this tragic event is instrumentalised by politicians to fuel hatred and justify their own politics of “security” and “safety”. We express solidarity with Muslim and racialised communities, as well as migrants and asylum seekers, and condemn the instrumentalisation of our grief for Islamophobic, anti-migrant, and racist purposes.
In Germany – as in Europe more broadly – the last months were shaped by almost daily news about funding cuts and increasing violence threatening the queer community. Indeed, some of the same conservative and right-wing politicians responsible for this political climate driven by hate and attacks on our self-determination and bodily autonomy are now claiming to want to “defend” us and Germany’s democratic values against its “racialised Others”. We don’t fall for this ploy and reject these attempts to break the ties of solidarity between queer and anti-racist struggles for liberation.
Now is the time not for their hate, but for our compassion, love, and care. We call for allies to support our own infrastructures so that we can grieve, care for one another, protect and celebrate ourselves, and live our lives freely without fear.
We stand in solidarity with our queer siblings in Germany! 💜