Nature has always known this, but we in Western societies are slowly figuring it out too: Humans are diverse. Surprise!

Let's be honest: whether Arabica, Robusta or another of the almost one hundred coffee varieties - the main thing is coffee! And let's be even more honest: whether you're lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, non-binary, inter*, ace, queer or straight - the main thing is love! or straight - the main thing is love! (See below for definitions)

It's natural to fall wholeheartedly in love with your best buddy - even if you're a boy yourself. It's natural to question your own sexuality - once, twice or again and again. It's natural to want to express yourself the way you feel on the inside - with colors, hair lengths, fabrics or make-up. Side fact: None of this has a specific gender. It's natural to have little or no interest in sex. It's natural to need surgery to recognize your own gender, not only internally, but also in your reflection. It is natural not to be able to identify with any of it. It is natural that everything, always and everywhere can change in the course of life - and that every person experiences this differently. It's Pride Month and a good opportunity to emphasize these things a little louder than usual.

We humans like to think in boxes. Boxes that may fit perfectly for some, but cause claustrophobia for others. Queer people still have to fight to be able to go about their lives just as carefree as people with heteronormative biographies. But what does fighting have to do with love? Love is such an appropriate term because queer people live in a world in which their reality is publicly debated, made invisible or threatened. Loving yourself and standing up for yourself then becomes a radical act. Pride means pride - and proudly showing oneself as a queer person is visible self-love.

Christopher Street Day (CSD) commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising by queer and transgender people against the violent surveillance and persecution of the New York police. A turning point in the fight for equal treatment of queer people. As long as people are still discriminated against because they fall outside a constructed grid, queer people and transgender people must be treated equally. allies must continue to take to the streets and fly the (colorful) flag - especially with the perspective that queer hostility and racism have always been closely linked. For the situation of queer people to continue to improve, we need political decisions for the protection of queer life, educational work in schools, Pride Month and blog posts like this one. And we need the tireless and radical love and self-love of queer people.

No matter who you are, who or how you love - everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin and be able to live free from discrimination. Just naturally. Nature doesn't care about boxes, categories and rules. It works in symbioses, cycles and diversity. We celebrate this diversity and, especially for Pride Month, the diversity of the queer community. You are all good and wonderful the way you love and the way you live.

Your Lena (she/her) & Jakob (he/him)

Dictionary of terms: 

Lesbian

Lesbian describes a sexual and/or romantic orientation.

The term generally describes the queer attraction to women and femininity. Women, but also non-binary people who feel attracted to women, butches, femmes, lesbians or even femininity (in whatever form) or femininity can describe themselves as lesbian. Some trans men also describe themselves as lesbian or see themselves as part of the lesbian community. 

Gay

Gay describes a sexual and/or romantic orientation. Gay refers to men or non-binary people who identify with masculinity who are romantically and/or physically attracted to other men or non-binary people who identify with masculinity.

Bisexual

Bisexuality is a sexual orientation. People can describe themselves as bisexual if they feel sexually attracted to people of two or more genders. This does not automatically mean that a person is (only) attracted to the two genders of the binary gender system and does not exclude attraction to non-binary people. Bisexuality is also sometimes defined as a person being attracted to their own gender and one or more other genders. Alternatively, bisexuality can mean that the attraction to people is independent of their gender.

Trans / transgender 

Trans people are people who are not the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans people can be both binary - man or woman - and non-binary. The opposite of trans is cis. 

Non-binary 

People who are not - or not 100% - man or woman can describe themselves as non-binary. Some non-binary people locate themselves completely outside the binary system, some have no gender at all (agender) or have a gender identity that is constantly changing (genderfluid).

Inter* / Intersex

Intersex people are people whose physical gender - for example their genitalia - cannot be assigned to the medical norm of 'clearly' male or female bodies, but is somewhere in between.

Ace
is an abbreviation for a_sexual. The term is usually used by the asexual community as a self-designation and umbrella term. Asexuality is a sexual orientation. A person can call themselves asexual if they feel little or no sexual attraction to other people, either permanently or temporarily.

Queer 

is used both as a label in its own right and as an umbrella term for all other labels or the queer community in general.

Heteronormativity 

Heteronormativity is a norm in our society that assumes that all people are endosexual, cisgender, heterosexual, allosexual and alloromantic. It is therefore assumed that every person has only one of two genders, namely either male or female, and that this gender can be read from the genitals at birth. It is also assumed that these genders are fundamentally different from each other and relate to each other sexually and romantically. There is also the expectation that all people are or want to be in monogamous, romantic and sexual relationships. Deviations from this norm - queer people, for example - are made invisible and/or discriminated against.

Ally

An ally is a person who is not part of the LGBTQIA+ community but actively supports it and works to end intolerance.

Source: queer-lexikon.net