Last Saturday hundreds of thousands of people took to Berlin’s streets for the 2023 CSD march. As always, it was a loud, proud, beautiful affair. These days, pride can almost feel routine – just another date on the summer social calendar. But huge public gatherings by LGBTQ+ people – people whose sexuality once isolated them – are a result of remarkable progress. Being openly gay in public was once impossible and continues to be met by violence today, as evidenced by the homophobic attacks that occurred last weekend. One place offering a colorful reminder of how far we’ve come – and how far is left to go – is the Schwules Museum. The Schöneberg institution documents and celebrates queer culture in all its gore and glory. The current exhibition, Love at First Fight, is made up of over 100 objects – photos of legendary drag queens, invites to protests – that attest to five decades of struggle for equality. Particularly fascinating are the exhibits that reveal the underground gay and lesbian scene in the GDR.
Also on show is an exhibition of pictures by Hamburg-born photographer Rüdiger Trautsch, who spent 50 years capturing the protests, parties and famous faces of Germany’s queer scene – including West Berlin, to which LGBTQ+ people flocked to escape military service. Trautsch captures scenes that are sometimes hedonistic, sometimes heartbreaking but never not human. You can attend tours of both exhibitions weekly. Heading outside, the audio tour We Have Always Been Everywhere tells the personal stories of the sex workers of the Bülowkiez red light district. Yet another example of queer life flourishing where we can see it: on the streets.
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Rüdiger Trautsch & Schwules Museum
Schwules Museum Berlin, Lützowstr.73, 10785 Berlin–Schöneberg; map
Mon, Wed & Fri 12–18h, Thu 12–20h, Sat 14–19h & Sun 14–18h
@schwulesmuseum
