Brown Instead of Colorful
There is something I’ve been noticing more and more over the past few years. The rainbow flag—whether it’s the standard flag, the Progress Pride Flag, or the Intersex Inclusive Pride Flag—is getting stained. And I’m not talking about a few dirt stains that arise, for example, because the queer community argues or behaves in an exclusive rather than inclusive way. I’m talking about far worse stains.
The dirt on the flag that I’m talking about has a color that absolutely does not belong there: brown. And slowly, people are beginning to appear who soak our flag—meant to stand for peace, but above all for community and a decades-long struggle—in brown sludge.
Attention: I am primarily talking about gay men here, because that’s where I’ve noticed it most strongly so far.
Patterns
For several years now, more and more conservative gay men have been crawling out of their holes to stir up trouble. Whether on sites like queer.de or on Instagram. And more and more often, trans* people and fetish people are being attacked in the process.
I’ll take a current example.
Jörg—Mr. Fetish Hessen 2025—invited me to an interview about my benefit flea market and about participation in general. It was a genuinely good and very relaxed interview. There was also a teaser to spark interest.
So far, so good. The feedback was mostly very positive.
Well. I wouldn’t be sitting here if there hadn’t been that one comment that really set me off. I’ll quote it once:
“Just stop politicizing sexuality. That’s simply despicable. I’m sure it won’t be long before there’s an election recommendation for one of the left-wing parties.
And then that puppy mask—no, this can’t be real. I don’t like those things. Does your idea of participation really go that far?”
It reads like a comment from one of those hardline Germans with perfect German Rechtsschreibung (Rechts-Schreibung: the spreading of ideologically nationalist content through comments, posts, or similar means—usually with poor grammar and spelling). I’ll get to the “points of criticism” in a moment.
Queer.de recently published an article titled
„More than a million: people donate for the wife of the shot Renee Good.“
A good article. One that shows that what is happening in America is wrong. But that’s not the point here.
The point is a comment by—and I’m only repeating what he called himself—a “real leather guy”:
“The woman endangered the lives of ICE officers and had to be stopped. It once again shows where Antifa terrorism leads us.
Fascism today calls itself Antifa,
terror, violence, torture and attempted murder against people who have a different opinion—that is fascism which today calls itself Antifa
for you this may be
democracy???
But it is fascism, and no matter what fascism calls itself today, fascism remains fascism—even if fascism calls itself Antifa. 🤷♂️”
Here too, Rechts-Schreibung is very strong in him. And a look at his profile told me everything I needed to know.
I want to break these comments down—roughly.
Antifa
To claim that people with an Antifa stance are fascist is a contradiction in itself. Antifa means anti-fascist. Against fascism. Against what happened during and before the Second World War. Against genocides, dictatorships, and racial ideologies (heavily simplified).
I know that parts of the extreme leather scene can have unpleasantly elitist traits. But this? This almost knocked the shoes off my feet.
He talks about terror, violence, and torture. And I seriously wonder how he intends to put that into any reasonable context. Is he referring to Berlin? The power outage? Then he should urgently look into the assessments of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the many inconsistencies that occurred there.
Even if he meant extremism rather than fascism, that doesn’t justify his statement in the slightest.
Note: Extremism is always shit. No matter which direction it comes from.
He also posted a screenshot of his notifications because he was being trolled. The font he uses on his smartphone is very close to old German script from the 1930s. I think you know what I’m getting at.
Sexuality in Politics
Aside from the fact that the teaser for the interview was not political in any way, one thing needs to be made clear: sexuality has always been political.
What does this commenter think is the reason he can live the way he does today? Certainly not because people in the 70s, 80s, and 90s sat quietly in their apartments and kept their mouths shut.
He can live like this and freely express his opinion because people went out into the streets for their sexuality and for these freedoms. Because they were insulted. Pelted with stones. And because they themselves threw stones at those in power.
Women went out into the streets and can today vote and make free decisions without needing a man’s permission to work. And yes: that also has to do with sexuality.
Women no longer have to be raped within marriage. Women are allowed to say “no.”
We are allowed to marry, adopt children, hold hands in public. And all of that only because people fought for our sexuality.
And who stood right at the front?
Trans people. Leather men.*
I seriously wonder whether this knowledge—only briefly touched on here—has really faded that much. Or whether people simply feel too safe. Do we really need to live in fear again for some to realize how good we already have it—and how quickly it can be lost?
Election Recommendations
I usually know the people I work with very well. And none of them would recommend a specific party—although everyone has personal preferences.
The only thing I say at every election is:
“DO NOT VOTE RIGHT.”
What someone personally defines as “right” is up for debate. The message is still clear.
In the end, everyone should vote for what they feel comfortable with. But please consider the long-term consequences. Conservative gays in particular are increasingly supporting parties that do not want queer people here. Some of these parties cooperate with clearly far-right extremist groups. This trend is very visible in the United States.
And they forget one thing.
There is a meme that describes the situation very well. I’ll try to present it as a dialogue:
Gays and the right together against trans rights
Gays: Yeah. We did it.
The right: Yes.
Gays: So who’s next?
The right
Gays: Who?
The right: *grin*
Do you see what I’m getting at?
Even if conservative gays manage to restrict the rights of trans* people and the visibility of fetish people, they are next. Oppressed by the very people they previously cooperated with.
Trans* rights and fetish visibility are only the tip of a massive iceberg called “queer life.” If that tip is chopped off, the next part follows. Then the next. Until we’re back in the 1930s. And then the outrage will be loud—but then no one will be able to say they didn’t know.
The Reach of Participation
Without even having seen the interview, this person already judged what participation means for us—and indirectly judged me for wearing a puppy mask. I will not apologize for that.
My understanding of participation goes much further. And actually, this is less about participation and more about visibility.
Yes: the video series also covers my benefit flea market, where participation through gear plays a role. In that sense, it’s true—participation goes that far. So far that we want to enable exactly this form of participation for people who cannot afford it themselves. Because participation creates visibility.
Only visibility can expose and change problems.
Only visibility conveys knowledge and breaks down stereotypes.
Only visibility creates equality.
And honestly: this kind of participation cannot go too far.
Something to Think About
Dear conservative and right-leaning gays and queers,
look into history books. Go to libraries or archives. Look at what happened in Germany before and during the Second World War. Many people were tortured, deported, and murdered solely because of their sexuality.
Look at what your grandparents and great-grandparents allowed to happen. And then ask yourselves what you are working toward today.
Look at the United States. Memorials are being removed there. Names of people who fought for queer rights are being erased. This is happening because an authoritarian ruler wants it that way—and because too many people lack the courage to object.
What is happening there can happen here. Again.
If you don’t start thinking beyond yourselves.
Do you want a genocide?
If yes, you are next. That is the nature of conservative fascism.
Don’t be too sure. Everything can be taken from us again.
The right to love.
The right to live.
And our lives themselves.
Gerry
