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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 (2019) by Bernardine Evaristo with our feminist book club. The author's style is unusual—in an intriguing way. The book portrays twelve lives that are intermingled over various decades. More than once we found ourselves surprised to get to know a person we met before from a completely different angle. At the core of the book: intersectional feminism, sexuality, patriarchy, independence. We won't reveal too much: read it!

After Netflix recommended the TV show numerous times, we finally started watching Pose (2018-)—and we love it! The show is set in New York in the 1980s and 1990s and revolves around Blanca Evangelista, a trans woman diagnosed with HIV. Blanca establishes her own 'house,' a self-chosen family with a mother (Blanca) and her children. Together, they compete for trophies in the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ and gender-nonconforming ballroom culture against other houses. We can't wait for the third season!

Comments

"You can't even have a child, dude."

Three weeks ago, we talked about virtual harassment and objectification where we also cited the sentence used as a title for this post. We are aware that this sentence was supposed to be an insult and that many same-sex couples would feel hurt. But: we don't. Both of us don't want kids. There was a time Ilse thought she would have children one day, but Else never really planned on it. So telling us that we can't have a child doesn't do anything to us. At least not directly. But it still maddens us. This intentionally hurtful comment is based upon the heteronormative supposition that every woman eventually wants to have at least one child. Most of us have been told that ‘we just don’t know it yet,’ that ‘we haven’t met the right person (man) yet,’ that ‘we will see that we really do want children eventually,’ and that ‘we will surely regret our decision one day.’ No. No. No. No. We are indeed capable of making this decision. We are able to know what we want. It’s not abo

Cochem: A Few Days in the German Countryside

Cochem is a place in the German countryside, in Rhineland-Palatinate. Although it is a district seat, it is rather small with about 5,000 inhabitants. Although it is probably easiest to arrive by car, traveling by rail is convenient as well. And as you know: we will always prefer to travel sustainably! We had booked a vacation home with a surprisingly comfortable Murphy bed (our first time in a Murphy bed!) and a little kitchen. Although Cochem had almost no COVID-19 cases when we visited, we nevertheless wanted to be careful and a place where we could make our own food was a perfect solution. But although it rained a lot, we luckily could enjoy a few patios. Cochem lies at the Moselle and is part of the Mosel wine region. The Mosel wines are amongst the best (if not the best) wines in Germany and the local/regional wines in Cochem were delicious. Since Cochem is a popular town for tourists and day visitors, there were lots of restaurants. But this popularity also meant that prices wer

Monthversary

We've been together for more than a year now, but we still celebrate our monthversaries — with one exception. Last month, both of us were wondering whether it was a noteworthy day. Ilse twisted her mind: whose birthday is it? Else checked her calendar for birthdays of her friends. At some point we talked about it: Ilse: "I have the feeling today is a special day. It might be a birthday, but I have no idea whose it could be." (Else made a suggestion that turned out to be correct, but it wasn't a birthday we would ever celebrate.) A few days later, we realized what we forgot: our monthversary! Ever since we talked about being a couple and settled on a date (it almost never is just one day, is it?), we try to make this day a special one: we make each other small — usually handmade — presents, prepare surprises and/or go to an extravagant (more or less ...) restaurant. We spent one of our favorite monthversaries at an Israeli restaurant on the eighth floor with f

Else & Ilse | LGBTIQ+ adventurers

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