The Berlin CSD Pride Parade was attacked last night. A man drove a van into a crowd. A woman died, several people are injured, some of them are still in the ICU. Many are in shock.
And people wonder why we still "need" this pride "circus" (<- that's what our fucking chancellor calls it btw). This is why. The suspect is a young man, born in Berlin, islamic extremist, known to the police and it's not his first try either. Imagine the comments under every article and post.
Instead of expressing compassion for the victims and the community, there is hate, racism, calls for even more violence against the community, political agitation and attempts to divide people even further.
We went back in time only now the extreme right and the religious extremists work together while opposing each other and keeping each other relevant. The victims of this vicious circle remain unseen, unheard and uncared for. The queer community is just a playing field for their hatred, the real lives behind each and every colourful outfit are irrelevant, even worthless to them.
While the community tries to stay together, it's easy to see that there are several points here, where our police and the government in general have failed us. The man was a known threat after all. Another part of the parade was shot at with soft air guns. Right wing protesters were marching. The government cancelled several projects that support the lgbtqai community. The list goes on.
I don't know where I'm going with this. At this point I'm just rambling. The thing is, last year I was right there. This could have been me. The only reason I'm not amongst the victims might just be the horrible migraine that kicked my ass yesterday. Instead of thinking about plans or pride, I was puking my guts out and was not ready to leave the flat. The only thing I did was test packing my bike for vacation and then go back into my flat. I only heard what happened after friends inquired after my well-being.
I feel horrible today because of the hatred and lack of protection, because my ex ranted about a fully queer window display in a children's bookshop, because the woman that died went out to stand up for her right to be alive, because the people that are injured/fighting for their lives/traumatized by the event were there to celebrate love and got hurt by hate.
I hope the survivors can heal, I hope the politicians take note and finally do something, I hope all the haters and fear mongerers will see the light one day or at least stop hurting others with their bullshit, I hope the community can stand together, get loud and force some action. We shouldn't be a playground for politics and religion.
Love is love. And we deserve to live freely.
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