Dear feminists, dear friends, dear comrades, dear compassionates!
Today we celebrate. We celebrate the 8th of March in general and at this demonstration, we especially celebrate feminist achievements. Hard-won achievements.
But next to that, according to the amazing call by the e*vibes collective, we also want to focus on defending. On defending those achievements against anti-feminism. As Queer Pride Dresden, we wish to shed some light on this topic: how anti-feminism acts against queer people and how we can counter-act it.
The term “anti-feminism” is to be understood as a generic term. It involves all those social movements that want to force social and political regression. Hence, anti-feminism is not just a problem for cis women. It is the zealous embodiment of patriarchal ideology. And it particularly affects queer people.
A firm ideological anchor point of anti-feminism is the patriarchal family structure of the 1950s. The concept of the nuclear family from the so-called “Golden Age of Marriage” is to be re-imposed as the only valid norm. And all realities of life that do not fit this picture are thrown under the bus. Firstly, this nuclear family of husband, housewife and children only ever worked in the middle and upper classes. Only there was it possible to live on a single income. Lower-class women, on the other hand, were always part of the working class. Secondly, there is no room for diverse family models in this world view. This applies, for example, to queer parents, patchwork families, but also to single parents.
Incidentally, divorce is totally denied by this concept. We probably don’t need to go into the harmful consequences for people in abusive relationships. On the other side of Elbe River, an event organized by the Women’s Shelter addresses precisely these problems.
Rainbow families, same-sex couples, non-binary gender identities, polyamorous partnerships – they all quite obviously go beyond the narrow cage of these norms.
There is substantial subversive power in this lived diversity, in the celebrated defiance to these norms. It undermines every narrow-minded, rigid, heteronormative notion of family – sometimes subtly, sometimes offensively.
And that is precisely why, in turn, anti-feminism is an existential threat to queer families and queer people in general. Nowadays, it is still needlessly difficult for queer families to be legally recognised as parents or to adopt children. Saxony discriminates against same-sex couples when it comes to funding fertility treatment. Same-sex marriages are currently only possible in 37 countries worldwide. In far more countries around the world, homosexuality is persecuted by the state and queer people face existential threats.
I think it’s becoming clear: the ideologues who want to impose this patriarchal family image on us are the very same ones who don’t want queer people to be represented anywhere. They don’t want us in politics, they don’t want us in the public eye or in the media, they don’t want us in schools or in childcare and certainly not in the holy idyllic christian white nuclear family. They simply don’t want us to exist.
From the theoretical backgrounds, from the practical approaches and from the concrete consequences of anti-feminist activities, one thing is very clear: This is a fundamentally reactionary, right-wing and even fascist project. We must resolutely oppose this at all levels.
What we can do – no, what we must do! – is to continue to fight for equality. To demand an end to discrimination against diversity. We need to stand up for our rights and for ourselves. We have to be loud for all those who cannot demonstrate freely. We must march together for those who don’t want to come out for fear of violence!
You are standing together with us today, and that gives us courage. It gives us confidence that we will stand together as a queer, anti-fascist and feminist movement. The upcoming election campaign in Saxony is already casting its populist shadow. A strengthening of right-wing conservative and far-right forces will directly escalate the existing threat. But this scenario is not set in stone! Whether at Brandmauer demos or Pride parades or antifascist actions: let’s chase this shadow away instead of letting it chase us!
Let’s give anti-feminism and all its supporters a huge middle finger, because queer people deserve better! We won’t be hunted down, we will not hush away, and we will certainly not hide!
“We’re here, we’re queer – we’re fabulous, don’t mess with us!”