This year, once again, we from ROOTS & ROUTES Cologne had the honor of organizing the rally for IDAHOBITA*. (internationalen Day bzw. Tag gegen Homo*-, Bi*-, Inter*-, Trans*- & Asexuellenfeindlichkeit) We supported artistically, and once again, participants from the iJuLa project joined with a creative idea! The rally was organized together by the Cologne community, including colognepride, the Kölner Aidshilfe, Anyway, and baraka rubicon. There were speeches from voices in the local queer community, as well as from Cologne’s Mayor Henriette Reker and the Federal Government’s Sven Lehmann, the queer representative.

At the “Queer Up!” station, passers-by were invited to step beyond usual gender boundaries by decorating themselves with makeup (under hygienic conditions), drawing beards, or decorating their fingernails if desired. The action was both a creative way to celebrate the rally and the diversity of gender and sexual identities, and an opportunity to raise awareness about the need for inclusion and acceptance, as well as a space for conversations that may not be possible in some homes.

At a special “make-up removal” station set up for the event, there was also the opportunity to undo the temporary change if desired.

We hope that we will be part of the event again next year on May 17th.

iJuLa is an RRCGN project and is supported within the framework of the federal program “Democracy Live!” by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth; additional funding comes from the Children and Youth Promotion Plan of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Diversity Fund NRW of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, the DOHLE Foundation, and the European Solidarity Corps.