The political discourse has clearly shifted to the right, with hate speech against refugees, homophobia, transphobia and anti-feminism becoming socially acceptable and talk-show-ready - time to take a firm stand against this, says Elmar Kraushaar
Orlando in Florida: On the night of 12 June, a gunman kills 49 people in a club that is popular with gays and lesbians. One day later, Chancellor Merkel expresses her "deep shock" at the attack - the words "gay" or "lesbian" do not cross her lips. Federal President Gauck also ignores the homophobic aspect of the crime in his statement.
A small group of activists and politicians gather for a vigil in front of the US embassy in Berlin, with the rainbow flag flying at half-mast only at the DGB building in Schöneberg. US President Obama, Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau, French President Hollande and Sweden's Prime Minister Löfven, on the other hand, are completely different. They all expressed their deep sorrow and solidarity with the LGBT community. In New York and Tel Aviv, in Paris, Brussels and other major cities, public buildings and landmarks are immediately illuminated in the colours of the rainbow. It is not until six days later that the private initiative of two activists Finally, a rainbow-coloured Brandenburg Gate, in front of which more than 5,000 people commemorate the victims of Orlando. German politicians are struggling to come up with an adequate response to this attack, but most of the media in this country are also taking their time before naming the gay and lesbian context.
Politicians and the media are rubbing their eyes in amazement: what do they actually want? Everything has been achieved.
The Orlando attack came as a shock to the German LGBT community. The grief over the deaths is mixed with the realisation, like a wake-up call, that the situation for lesbians, gays and transgender people is not as rosy as assumed. It is not just the lack of mourning after Orlando that is causing politicians to fail across the board. Serious efforts to achieve the long overdue legal equality of homosexual couples are also at the bottom of the agenda for all parties. And reparations for the last surviving men who were convicted under Paragraph 175 are being neglected - until there is no one left who could make such claims.
However, if the situation of homosexuals is brought up in public, it is merely pointed out how much has already been achieved. "The German government has taken many steps to reduce discrimination," announces government spokesperson Seibert on behalf of the Chancellor. The same tone can be observed in the German media, constantly assuring each other how liberal this country is, how much tolerance is now practised, how unbiased one can be towards one's homosexual neighbours. "Different, but only a little", the FAZ gloated on the occasion of the 2016 Frankfurt CSD. As soon as homosexuals express their concerns and protests in public, politicians and the media rub their eyes in amazement: what else do they actually want? Everything has been achieved.
"Homosexuals and combat lesbians have the goal of destroying the traditional family and the continuity of humanity."
With the emergence of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), the first right-wing populist party since 1945 with a threatening appeal, it should be clear that the political and social situation for LGBT people is not as safe as prematurely assumed. With reactionary talk and populist slogans, the AfD is shifting the political discourse significantly to the right. If people were convinced that things could only go upwards after years of progress, this idea is now turning out to be a fallacy. The AfD is using all its rhetorical power to oppose everything that has the term gender in it. "Homosexuals and combat lesbians", it said at a party event in Munich at the beginning of July, "aim to destroy the traditional family and the continued existence of humanity." The desired family ideal is that of the early post-war years, and they want to return to it. "Resistance is more necessary than ever," announced deputy party leader Beatrix von Storch at the beginning of 2016, "gender ideology is and remains anti-family."
The party's realisation that the reality of homosexual people cannot be turned back, but their equality must be prevented at all costs. The AfD's anti-feminism and homophobia, alongside its agitation against refugees and its fight against Islam, guarantee that it will successfully tap into the resentments and prejudices of those sections of the population that are susceptible to the AfD's promises - conservatives and neo-Nazis as well as the so-called little people and those from the centre of society who all feel left behind, misunderstood and no longer represented by those in power.
Beverfoerde, Kuby and Kelle: making a big splash against lesbians and gays.
The AfD's successes correspond directly with a culture war that has been raging in Germany for years. People of Christian faith and with conservative attitudes are taking to the streets against the "acceptance of sexual diversity". The protest has been triggered by a new education plan from the red-green state government in Baden-Württemberg, which aims to finally give appropriate consideration to homosexuality and transsexuality in the classroom. Gabriel Stängle, an evangelical teacher, was able to mobilise almost 200,000 signatories against these plans with an online petition by mid-2014.
A central figure in the organisation of this conservative "resistance" is Hedwig von Beverfoerde, CDU member and Christian fundamentalist. With her initiative "Demo for all", she organises events and street marches to push through her image of the family from the day before yesterday. "Gender," she says, "is anti-Christian and targets the order that God has given us." The idea of the "Demo for all" is modelled on the "La Manif pour tous" movement, which has been bringing hundreds of thousands onto the streets in France since 2013. Beverfoerde is receiving prominent support from publicists Birgit Kelle and Gabriele Kuby. The latter is the daughter of the controversial left-wing author Erich Kuby, whose 2012 book "The Global Sexual Revolution" provides the necessary arguments for the Christian-conservative debate. She defends celibacy and the virtue concept of chastity, she opposes abortion and the equality of homosexuals. In many respects, she agrees with Birgit Kelle, who for her part repeatedly speaks out against "gender mainstreaming" and a quota for women. "Gender mainstreaming is ultimately aimed at our children," she warns: "They should be taught that everything is possible and nothing counts." All three, von Beverfoerde, Kuby and Kelle, are always welcome guests on talk shows on ARD and ZDF when it comes to using provocative theories - packaged as permissible expressions of opinion - to create a favourable atmosphere against lesbians and gays.
From the "homo lobby" and "early sexualisation": how conservatives "argue"
The classic gender order and heterosexual orientation are being revitalised as the "natural" and "most valuable" way of life. As with the AfD, everything evil that needs to be combated is subsumed under the gender formula: a contemporary image of women, school education about homosexuality and transsexuality, equality for homosexuals. Proven means in this fight are lies and half-truths, agitation and distortions. There are warnings about the power of the "homosexual lobby", which is allegedly gaining influence in all areas of society. There are also warnings about the "early sexualisation" of children, who are to be seduced and misguided in their sexual development under the influence of modern pedagogy in kindergartens and schools. The emotional foundation of these battle cries is fear, fear of being taken advantage of in terms of tolerance for other lifestyles; fear of losing children to the LGBT world, which one no longer understands; fear of losing one's footing in view of the increase in single households and marital divorces.
The "demo for all" movement, mainly based in Stuttgart, also spread to other German states, taking to the streets in Hanover at the end of 2014 and Munich at the end of July 2016, although the planned "wake-up call demo" was cancelled due to the attack. A particularly low point was reached on 11 October 2015 in Stuttgart: to great applause from the demonstration participants, a young man declared that he did not want to live out his gayness. Guests from Italy, France and Austria repeatedly take part in this and other events, demonstrating how well the movement is networked internationally.
There is a wide range of support from the media. The right-wing weekly newspaper "Junge Freiheit" is just as active as "Compact", a conspiracy-friendly monthly magazine from Leipzig. There are also new right-wing magazines and blogs such as "Eigentümlich frei", "Sezession", "Conservo" and "Politically Incorrect". Anti-gender issues are just as much at home here as polemics against lesbians and gays. In 2014, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung defamed projects such as the Waldschlösschen Academy, the SchLau sex education project and individual academics in a series of articles against education plans and sex education.
Just a few days after the crime in Orlando, a study is published according to which hatred towards Muslims, homosexuals and Sinti and Roma is growing massively in Germany. Over 40 per cent of respondents find it "disgusting" when same-sex couples kiss in public. And 36 per cent think that homosexual couples should continue to be denied the right to marry. In all cases, these figures are significantly higher than in comparable surveys a few years earlier. Apparently, the attacks by the AfD and the "Demo for all" movement are beginning to bear fruit. And there is no end in sight to the triumphant advance of the right-wing populists, as the results of the last state elections show. And the "demo for all" activists continue to pursue their holy mission. This will not change unless politicians and the media on the one hand and a determined LGBT movement on the other recognise their responsibility and oppose these undemocratic and anti-emancipatory efforts with all their might.
This article is based on an abridged version of the comprehensive working paper "The anti-'gender' uprising - the new joint struggle of Christian activists and the new right against enlightenment and emancipation" by Norbert Blech.
Summary of the DAH working paper by Norbert Blech (PDF file, 2016)
