The Pride Month June is all about standing up for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. During the month, parades and protests take place, rainbow flags fly on every corner, and even large corporations color their logos. As the name suggests, it is part of Pride Month, to deal with one's own sexuality and identity proudly and confidently To understand why, it is important to know how it came about.
You can find the entire statement on Fabian’s Instagram channel
Stonewall protests
Pride Month goes back to the Stonewall protests in New York back. On the night of June 27th and 28th, 1968, a police raid was carried out on the Stonewall Inn bar. At that time, homosexuality and, among other things, wearing clothing that deviated from stereotypical gender roles was a criminal offense. The police brutally attacked the bar patrons, who then refused to follow their orders. This sparked a demonstration in front of the bar that lasted for four days. The initiators of the protests are the three People of Color Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Stormé Delarvarie .
The protests are considered the cornerstone of the LGBTQIA+ movement and show: The rights for queer people were hard fought for. For a long time, it was not possible to proudly show oneself in public as a gay, bi, trans or intersex person. That is why Pride Month is celebrated every year. More specifically, the LGBTQIA+ community celebrates and fights for its rights all year round, but in Pride Month in June, the topic is also present outside the community.
And now everything is fine?
Of course and unfortunately not. Even today, queer people struggle with structural stigma and a lot of prejudice. For example, 40% of trans people say they experience discrimination in the workplace. This can manifest itself, for example, in name changes not being accepted. Such verbal aggression lays the foundation for anti-queer sentiments, which in the worst case can end in violence: In 2017, there were 130 crimes against queer people in Germany, most of which were violent crimes. Compared to the previous year, the number has increased by around 20%. In recent years, however, acceptance of the queer community has increased and fewer people condemn homosexuality, for example. We want to maintain this trend and position ourselves accordingly as a company.
From left to right: Kiri, Phenix, Saskia, Fabian
What does this mean for us at soulbottles?
We decided to launch the soulbottle “Free Love” for Pride Month to raise awareness of the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. The motif shows people who break with heteronormative standards and show that all people can deal with their sexuality freely and confidently. Provided, of course, that all parties involved are able to give their consent and have done so. We also want to use our resources to to let people from the queer community speak for themselves. Because it's all about making sure their views are heard. That's why we've brought our cooperation partners Kiri , Fabian , Phenix and Saskia on board, who talk about what free love means to them on our Instagram channel .
You can find the entire statement on Saskia’s Instagram channel
And otherwise?
If you want to change something on the outside, you should start with yourself. So what does it look like in our own structures? We have set up a working group called “Exit Discrimination” in which we address various forms of discrimination. We are currently working on a tool that makes experiences of discrimination visible so that they can then be reduced. If you have already had experience with this in your workplace, we would be very happy to receive tips! In addition, our PKE role (personal development) regular workshops to structural discrimination such as racism and sexism.
Similar to the topic of racism We still have a long way to go, which we want to take together as a company and as a society. We will continue to listen, educate ourselves and, in the future, focus on intersectionality in order to be able to tackle sociopolitical problems holistically.
Sources:
