June 20, 2024
NATURAL. LOVE.
by JUNGLÜCK Redaktion
Nature always knew it, but we in Western societies are slowly realizing it too: Humans are diverse. Surprise!
Let's be honest: It doesn't matter whether it's Arabica, Robusta or one of the other almost a hundred types of coffee - the main thing is coffee! And let's be even more honest: It doesn't matter whether you're lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, inter*, ace, queer or straight - the main thing is love! (See below for definitions)
It's natural to fall wholeheartedly in love with your best friend – even if you're a boy yourself. It's natural to question your own sexuality – once, twice, or again and again. It's natural to want to express how you feel inside – with colors, hair lengths, fabrics, or make-up. Side fact: None of these things have a specific gender. It's natural to have little or no interest in sex. It's natural to need an operation to recognize your own gender, not just internally, but also in the mirror. It's natural if you can't identify with any of this. It's natural that everything, anytime, anywhere can change over the course of your life – and that everyone experiences this differently. It's Pride Month and a good opportunity to emphasize these things a little louder than usual.
We humans like to think in boxes. Boxes that may be perfect for some, but cause claustrophobia in others. Queer people still have to fight to be able to go through life as carefree as people with heteronormative biographies. But what does fighting have to do with love? Love is such an appropriate term because queer people move in a world in which their reality is publicly debated, made invisible or threatened. Loving yourself and standing up for yourself then becomes a radical act. Pride means pride - and proudly showing yourself as a queer person is visible self-love.
Christopher Street Day (CSD) commemorates the Stonewall uprising of queer and transgender people in 1969 against the violent surveillance and persecution of the New York police. A turning point in the fight for equal treatment of queer people. As long as people are still discriminated against because they fall outside a constructed grid, queer people and allies must continue to take to the streets and show their (colorful) flags - especially with the perspective that queerphobia and racism have always been closely linked. In order for the situation of queer people to continue to improve, we need political decisions to protect queer life, educational work in schools, Pride Month and blog posts like this one. And we need the tireless and radical love and self-love of queer people.
No matter who you are, who or how you love - everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin and be able to live free from discrimination. Completely natural. Nature doesn't care about boxes, categories and rules. It functions in symbioses, cycles and diversity. We celebrate this diversity and, especially for Pride Month, the diversity of the queer community. You are all good and wonderful the way you love and the way you live.
Your Lena (she/her) & Jakob (he/him)
Glossary:
Lesbian
Lesbian describes a sexual and/or romantic orientation.
The term generally describes the queer attraction to women and femininity. Women can identify as lesbians, but also non-binary people who are attracted to women, butches, femmes, lesbians or even femininity (in whatever form) or femininity. Some trans men also describe themselves as lesbians or see themselves as part of the lesbian community.
Gay
Gay describes a sexual and/or romantic orientation. Gay refers to men or non-binary people who identify with masculinity who are romantically and/or physically attracted to other men or non-binary people who identify with masculinity.
Bisexual
Bisexuality is a sexual orientation. People can describe themselves as bisexual if they are sexually attracted to people of two or more genders. This does not automatically mean that a person is (only) attracted to the two genders of the binary gender system and does not exclude attraction to non-binary people. Bisexuality is sometimes defined as a person being attracted to their own gender and one or more other genders. Alternatively, bisexuality can mean that the attraction to people is independent of their gender.
Trans / transgender
Trans people are people who are not the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans people can be binary - male or female - or non-binary. The opposite of trans is cis.
Nonbinary
People who are not - or not 100% - male or female can describe themselves as non-binary. Some non-binary people position themselves completely outside the binary system, some have no gender at all (agender) or have a gender identity that changes over and over again (genderfluid).
Inter* / Intersex
Intersex people are people whose physical gender – for example their genitals – cannot be assigned to the medical norm of 'clearly' male or female bodies, but lies on a spectrum in between.
Ace
is an abbreviation for a_sexual. The term is mostly used by the a_sexual community as a self-description and umbrella term. Asexuality is a sexual orientation. A person can call themselves asexual if they feel little or no sexual attraction to other people, either permanently or temporarily.
queer
is used both as a label in its own right and as an umbrella term for all other labels or the queer community in general.
Heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is a norm in our society that assumes that all people are endogenous, cisgendered, heterosexual, allosexual and alloromantic. It is therefore assumed that each person has only one of two genders, namely either male or female, and that this gender can be determined from the genitals at birth. It is also assumed that these genders are fundamentally different from one another and relate to one another sexually and romantically. In addition, there is the expectation that all people are or want to be in monogamous, romantic and sexual relationships. Deviations from this norm - for example queer people - are made invisible and/or discriminated against.
Ally
An ally is a person who is not part of the LGBTQIA+ community but actively supports it and works to end intolerance.
Source: queer-lexikon.net