Else & Ilse | LGBTIQ+ adventurers

Pride Month is almost over and we wanted to share our interpretation of the flag's colors with you! We decided to go with the revised Philadelphia version from 2017. We always believed that the six-color flag is perfect; that it includes (or, at least, should include) everyone who feels to be part of the queer community. But this last month has taught us that, although the six-color flag should suffice, we should explicitly include BIPoC who did so much for our movement, but are still discriminated, harassed, disregarded, killed. So: we'll start with black! Black is one of the two colors added to the revised rainbow flag. It draws attention to Black people of our community and their particular issues. For us, it also honors those who fought for our rights, particularly during the Stonewall riots—Marsha P. Johnson is probably the most prominent, but not the only one: Andrea Jenkins, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, Earl Fowlkes, Elle Hearns, Ernestine Eckstein, Karleigh...

When COVID-19 restrictions slowly eased, we decided to let a new adventure begin: the Eifelleiter ('Eifel ladder'). We were excited to get away, we might have been a bit naive, but we were prepared to do this: hiking 54.2 kilometers in three days —our first hike lasting several days. The first two days were supposed to be moderate hiking trails, the last day a hard one. We were optimistic (or, in case of Ilse, just forgot immediately). And the backpacks were not too heavy. In the beginning. After a shortish train ride, we began our adventure in Bad Breisig. We had to find the symbol marking our route: a green hill, parted by a white path, a blue tower on top and a blue creek below. Or: a sail boat, as Ilse understood it. Made far more sense than Else's interpretation! It wasn't easy, at times confusing. But alas! We ran into a local hiking group of experienced women, one of them even did this hike when the route was opened! With powerful, confident steps, she too...

Ever since we started our Instagram account, we are harassed and objectified —mostly by men, but also by women. Our most recent encounter started with a simple "gross." We basically knew what this person meant, but we were curious: "what exactly?", we asked. Apparently, it's "SO FUCKING GROSS" to be lesbians, it's "haram" (forbidden by Islamic law), and god will put us in heaven. But the explanation and solution were simple: we can't find a man to love us ("you can't even have a child, dude"), but listening to the Quran would help us. Thanks, darling! Alternatively, we will be going to hell, as another person told us. It's so confusing! Other messages are usually less elaborate, do not offer solutions. One of our 'favorite' ones was just one line: "pee into my mouth, please." (This one was really polite!) Others directly or indirectly asked for a threesome (that's gross!). People (men and women)...

This last week was filled with so many inspiring, helpful, saddening, important, uplifting, creative, and maddening posts and stories. We can’t believe how many people suddenly started educating themselves. We hope everyone will keep this up. We believe that supporting Black artists is one way to support the Black community. Thanks to our awesome virtual community, we were directed to fantastic BIPoC artists who present their work on Instagram. Today, we would like to share three incredible Black artists we found on Instagram: Pretty In Ink Press ©  beautifully illustrates Black people, mostly womxn. Her illustrations are colorful and portray each person in a powerful way. It's hard to settle on one, but we think her illustration of  Amorous Ebony  might be our favorite one. Artist (and writer)  Autumn Joi  paints amazing portraits (mostly) of Black people that we simply love. The paintings transport so much emotion even though we sometimes cannot see the f...

These last few months, we had more than enough time for indoor activities. So we decided that we want to explore queer books, movies, and TV shows, preferably with a diverse crew and cast. And although many are (too) white for our taste, we also came across fantastic books, movies, and TV shows that include BIPoC artists. Today, we want to share one movie, one book, and one TV show with you that we particularly love. Moonlight  (2016), an all-black cast movie, was the first movie we watched during our lockdown. This coming-of-age drama follows Chiron through his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, also mirrored in the release poster that merges the faces of the three actors playing Chiron into a single face. Chiron grows up with an addicted mother who calls him a 'faggot,' but finds a supportive father figure in Juan, an Afro-Cuban drug-dealer. In the course of the movie, he struggles with his identity and with his sexuality. We started reading Girl, Woman, Other (201...

We were and are so excited for Pride Month! Although most Pride festivities are canceled this year (Cologne Pride is, for now, postponed, so we still have some hope ...), we couldn't wait for this month of visibility, of pride (not just Pride), of rainbow flags, of support, of loving each other. Then, George Floyd was brutally killed. And although we cannot imagine how it must feel to be Black or a person of color, we can't stand this injustice. We will do everything we can to stand with you. To fight with you. Pride started as a riot. And although we do not support violence, it doesn't seem likely that this injustice will end without another riot. We stand with you. We won't have queer equality if we don't have racial equality. Black lives matter. The lives of people of color matter. Remember those who died from police violence. Say their names and never forget.