MYSTORY with …
RUTH
25 Years, Hamburg
“Despite, or because of the fact that I am hardly
affected by queer hostility, my experiences and
also those of others motivate me to publicly stand
up for education and rights of LGBTQ+ people…”
Published: September 2022
BI-Lieve in me.
For a long time, I considered it a privilege not to be seen as bisexual. It is both a curse and a blessing that on the one hand you experience less queer hostility on average if you live in a heterosexual partnership, for example – but on the other hand you don’t always experience full belonging to the LGBTQ+ community, or are too quickly labeled as either homosexual or heterosexual, depending on the partner at your side. Such experiences are, compared to the overall picture of queer discrimination, less bad and easy to cope with, whether in the political field, in private or in the professional environment, the latter being in my case the Shine network at PwC Germany.
Despite, or because of, the fact that I am hardly affected by queer hostility, my experiences and also those of others motivate me to publicly stand up for education and rights of LGBTQ+ people.
Pride Month is not only reserved for gays and lesbians – and society still has a long way to go in its development to not only think of the “L” and “G” in LGBTQ+ when it comes to queer topics, but to give all queer people the same treatment. Particularly issues away from the usual binary are still barely a concept for many, or are so foreign and incomprehensible that it’s easy to look away and associate queerness with tried-and-true queer role models, such as only gay men. However, the community is much more diverse and should be visible as a whole.
Admittedly, I also have to say that I personally find coming outs and labels to be incredibly oppressive and outdated at times. Along the lines of “why don’t straight people have to do that?” I sometimes think about, how unfair it is that queer people have to share something as personal as their sexuality publicly in order to avoid being looked at strangely because of their choice of partners. But I do recognize that this is still a very privileged point of view on my part.
Most people don’t have the luxury of such an open environment that any kind of queerness is immediately accepted without much fuss, while it should actually be self-evident nowadays. Unfortunately, however, past but also current events, such as the recent attack in Oslo, only emphasize repeatedly how important visibility of any kind is – and not only in June for Pride Month as a pinkwashing campaign of the mainstream corporations, but all year round without monetary consideration. Whether in the office, on the street or privately:
Visibility creates acceptance, dissolves long overdue norms and makes life easier especially for those who cannot (yet) live their queerness openly in fear of discrimination or hostility.
Therefore, I hope that the current social change will move steadily forward until no person has to live in fear because of his or her identity – which, in the best case, will not take too much longer.