Wir lassen uns nicht spalten! Solidarisch gegen queerfeindliche Gewalt und antimuslimischen Rassismus

We will not let ourselves be divided! 

Standing in solidarity against anti-queer violence and anti-Muslim racism

Last week’s deadly anti-queer attack on the CSD in Berlin has shaken us to the core. Yet another attack on queer lives and our communities—communities that are diverse and in which many people are simultaneously affected by anti-queer violence, racism, ableism, or other forms of oppression.

We stand in solidarity with those affected, their loved ones, and everyone who has been impacted and unsettled by this attack. 

We mourn, but we are also angry!

Once again, violence against queer people is being politically exploited to fuel racist hate speech. Instead of discussing the protection of queer people, the expansion of prevention efforts, or the funding of safe spaces, heightened “security measures,” harsher penalties, and deportations are being presented as the solution. Surveillance is being ramped up, police powers expanded, and repressive measures intensified. 

People of color are particularly affected by this. Many people perceived as Muslim and people of color experience increased police checks and police violence today, just as they did back then—even at demonstrations like Pride parades. Let’s never forget: the first Pride was a riot! We owe the origins of Christopher Street Day and our queer rights to the struggles of activists like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson: Black trans* women and trans* women of color, drag queens, sex workers, and their allies, who fought back against police raids and violence. 

These racist reactions do not protect queer people and distract from the actual causes of anti-queer violence. Anti-queer hostility is an expression of patriarchal and authoritarian structures that permeate all parts of society. Those who exploit this violence for racist purposes divide our communities and strengthen the very forces that attack our freedom as a whole.

While racist pseudo-solutions are being promoted, we are simultaneously witnessing cuts to safe spaces and counseling centers for queer people, as well as the dismantling of prevention programs. Underlying this is an economic system that allows a small group of people to grow ever richer while they exploit the rest of society and pit people against one another. At the same time, right-wing and fascist forces are gaining influence and attacking queer people more and more openly—on the streets, in parliaments, and in public discourse.

We say: Our response to anti-queer violence is solidarity, not division. Protection instead of isolation. Prevention instead of tokenism. Safer spaces instead of cuts.

This attack—and its instrumentalization—particularly affects racialized queer people and queer Muslims among us. We experience queerphobia AND (anti-Muslim) racism.

Our solidarity is indivisible. There is no queer liberation without the fight against racism, and no anti-racist movement without queer perspectives.

We stand together against anti-queer violence. Against racism. Against fascism. For a society in which all people can live without fear.

So: Come to the rally! Let’s mourn together, be angry together, and make our voices heard together. Let’s show that our solidarity is stronger than their hate. We will not let them divide us!

Wednesday, August 5, 2026, 6:30 p.m. at Apollowiese

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Program: Analysis of the Islamist attack on the Berlin CSD, speeches, discussion

About the rally location: We’ll be on the Apollo-Wiese and the square in front of it (Mannesmannufer)

 Support staff will be present at the rally.

 Nearest restrooms:

• at KIT—wheelchair accessible
• at Caritas-Platz: City Toilette—wheelchair accessible; free with a Eurokey, otherwise 50 cents; card payments accepted