Week Two: Berlin Pride and Back To Warsaw

I left the Oki Doki last Wednesday morning and took a train to Berlin.  In a great stroke of luck, I ended up on the same train as Thaddeus, an aviation mechanics student in Berlin who also stayed at the Oki Doki.  He had great recommendations of places to go and we decided to meet up for Pride on Saturday.

I was really excited to get to Berlin for Pride and to see the city.  Like every other stop on the Watson journey, it was my first time to go.  I had heard great things about Berlin generally but also about LGBT life there.  Beyond two (!) Pride parades and a month's worth of other Pride celebrations, Berlin also has a classic gayborhood, a gay museum, and a vibrant night life that includes numerous queer clubs and bars.

                                       

        Windmills on the train ride into Germany.

President Obama was in Berlin on the Wednesday that I arrived and his smiling face greeted me at the hostel.  There was actually no way to go see his speech at the Brandenburg Gate; I heard from several other travelers who tried that everything within a half-mile (at least) was blocked and nobody could enter.

After getting settled in the hostel and making a list of things to see, I spent Thursday exploring the city.

I started with the Holocaust Memorial, the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under Nazism, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma.  These are all fairly close together near the Brandenburg Gate.

Before talking about this and putting up pictures, I guess I should say that I was conflicted about whether or not to take pictures in the first place.  I did not want to be disrespectful (and although I am sure that the people who took family pictures with the memorial in the background or standing and smiling on the stones that make it up did not do these things with disrespect in mind, it felt not quite right to me), and I was afraid that in the process of taking pictures and seeing through the lens rather than on my own, I would successfully distance myself from the intended experience of the memorial and from the reality of what it was meant to call to mind and commemorate. In the end I took pictures, which are below, to document my experience, but I also spent time with the camera away.  Has anyone else had this experience or do y'all have advice about how to think about this issue? 

The main stretch turns into Hannah Arendt Street near the Memorials.

The Holocaust Memorial, or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, is a series of stone rectangles that covers a large block of land.  The ground is uneven, so I felt off-balance throughout the memorial.  The stones vary in height, and as I walked through the aisles, I felt overwhelmed when they surrounded and towered over me.  I assume that this is the intended effect, and making visitors feel disoriented and overwhelmed even in the midst of what would appear to be a highly organized system seems like one way of memorializing the very specific kind of horror of the Holocaust. 

A view down one of the aisles of the memorial. 

                                                                

This is the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under the Nazis.  It is an unmarked box in Tiergarten Park, across the street from the Holocaust Memorial, and although I passed it several times, it took me some time to realize this was it.  Only when I stuck my head in the little window did I realize that this must be the place.  A film runs on repeat: in one section, a young gay couple is happy and affectionate in a number of locations and in the end, an older gay couple notices them and shares a kiss of their own.  The second section is much the same, with a lesbian couple.  After watching the film, it's difficult to be anything but happy, and I left the memorial feeling both happy to have seen that affection in a very public place and obviously upset at the reality of the persecution of gay people.

This is the memorial to the Sinti and Roma, also in Tiergarten Park, set aside behind a glass wall tracing the history of the Holocaust persecution.  The water is surrounded by stones, some of which bear the names of the concentration camps to which those memorialized were sent.  

I spent the rest of Thursday and Friday visiting the East Side Gallery, the Reichstag, the Schwules (gay) Museum, the Brandenburg Gate, and Checkpoint Charlie. 

In front of the Reichstag, the German Parliament building. 

The dome on top of the Reichstag, which you can visit with free tickets.  I waited for about 2 hours and met some nice travelers from India, Japan, and Canada.  The dome offers views of the whole city and of Parliament in the building below. 

The center of the dome is a series of glass panels that gets larger and larger as you go up the walkway of the dome.  Reichstag selfie.  Couldn't resist. 

In the Reichstag dome.  I'm terrified of heights so I was shaking the whole time but it was beautiful.  

In front of the Brandenburg Gate.  There was construction being done on both sides so it was difficult to get close to it. 

The top of the Gate. 

Getting ready for the Christopher Street Day Parade, which is the name of Berlin Pride, outside of the Gate.  Christopher Street is where the Stonewall Riots, an LGBT rebellion against police brutality, took place in the US in 1969.  

 I walked along the East Side Gallery, which is a 1.3 km long section of the Berlin wall covered in art.  Here are pictures of some favorite pieces.  

Although there are no traditionally gay neighborhoods in Warsaw, Schoneberg is the gayborhood in Berlin and has been since the 1920s. The Schwules Museum is located here, and after exploring their exhibits on gay history, I got lost and went exploring in Schoneberg.  Found some extremely happy bunnies in a garden.  

Although I was slightly disappointed with the Schwules Museum, which was not as organized or thorough as I would have hoped, it and Schoneberg were still part of the reason that I was really excited to get to Berlin.  It has a history of at least somewhat open gay life and culture tracing back almost 100 years now and the CSD, which is a huge demonstration shutting down a major tourist center, carries on that queer visibility.  It's an interesting contrast to Memphis and to Warsaw, where gay life exists in a very different way.  

On Saturday I woke up and took the U-Bahn to the stop where the CSD was supposed to begin at 12.  As soon as I stepped off of the train, I heard the music.  There was a huge crowd. The lines at the side of the parade were treated more like suggestions and the crowd pushed itself as close as possible to all the floats, which were surrounded by security officers with ropes meant to make sure that nobody got hit.

The beginning of the parad

Russia just passed a bill punishing anyone who distributes "gay propaganda."  Much like the "Don't Say Gay" bill in Tennessee,  it's anti-gay legislation that proponents argue protects children from the well-know evil of the gay agenda...There were protests against the bill throughout the parade both from German marchers and from those visiting from Russia. 

Berlin Roller Derby

Canada was present to distribute material for World Pride, which takes place in Toronto next June.  I'll be there as the last stop on my Watson! 

The end of the parade. 

There was a fair set up around the Brandenburg Gate with music and lots of booths. 

With the excellent Thaddeus.  

In addition to the CSD, there was also the TCSD or transgenialer CSD.  This is the "alternative" pride, meant to be more inclusive and to avoid what is seen as the commercialization of radical queer politics.  Where it was very easy to find the CSD, it was not so easy to find the TCSD.  In fact, there was so much conflicting information going around about the TCSD that I was unsure that it was even happening.  Early in the morning I heard that it was not.  Later, there was information that there would be a rally at what had originally been the end point of the parade.  Then it was supposed to be somewhere else.

Ultimately, I got lost on the way to the park where the rally was supposed to be and with some really excellent luck stumbled upon the actual parade.  I am so grateful that this happened.  I was able to hear the opening speech and while it was in German, I could understand enough to know that there was a lot more discussion of racism, capitalism, and Islamophobia than there had been at the CSD.

The chant, "Queer Feminism is Anti-Fascist," opened the parade, which was unlike the CSD in a number of ways. For one, it was made up of a huge mass of people and three or four small vans or trucks with signs.  I was able to watch the entire procession and join part of it.  The parade took place in Kreuzberg, which is an extremely diverse neighborhood filled with artists and a large number of immigrants.  My hostel was there and I enjoyed the food and the night life.  It is a much more low-key location than the Brandenburg Gate.  There was less music and more chanting.           

The small van where the speeches were made; it led the parade.

The group marching through Kreuzberg.

I was thankful to be able to see both the CSD and the TCSD, to be able to see two sides of the queer community and to observe the different ways in which a public demonstration might take shape and proceed.  The split between the CSD and the TCSD is familiar, mirroring in some ways the debate in the US between more mainstream and more radical political agendas.  There was a large group in the CSD of folks holding "Everyone wants to be happily married" signs. There was nothing like that at the TCSD.  Much like at home, it seems like there is a debate over where the energy of the community should be focused.  Even in Berlin, there is still that divide, and given how difficult it was to get any information about the TCSD, one side has a much louder microphone.  

The night after the parades, I went to one of the many celebrations with Thaddeus and some of his really nice friends who were also visiting the city. It was a great day and a really fun night, a perfect way to end my time in Berlin. 

I headed back to Warsaw Monday morning and was picked up at the train station by the owner of the apartment where I'll be staying for the next month.  I've spent this week getting settled and making connections (more on that next post), and although hostel life was helpful in being social and getting to know the city, it is a nice change to have my own space for at least a little while.  

This week I am particularly thankful for: 

1. Berlin's queer community, in all its forms

2. Courtney Mott

3. Thaddeus, who is awesome and who should come visit me in Warsaw, and the lovely Brians and Matt with whom we spent Pride night

4. Caroline Todd

5. Kebab, which is a great thing and which was particularly delicious in Berlin

Thanks for reading, everybody! 

  

  

Week One: Getting to Know Warsaw

I can't believe it has been a week already. I left home on June 11th, and the Watson Foundation let me know that I am the first of the fellows to leave this year.  It was hectic getting everything together (more on that later), but I wanted to get here for Pride, which took place on June 15th.

Since I landed in Warsaw last Wednesday morning, I have been staying in the Oki Doki Hostel, a great place in the center of the city.  Although I have an apartment for most of my stay here, I leave for Berlin Pride tomorrow morning and this was the most convenient way to live in the city for a week.  I sleep in a dorm with five other people, most of whom are here for only a day or two.  The hostel has lots of fun touches; all of the rooms are themed and it's extremely colorful.  My room, appropriately enough, is Tecza, or rainbow.

I've met tons of nice people here, and keeping busy and social has made the transition much easier than it could have been, I think.  Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I got to know the city and walked around Old Town and the city centre, where the parade would take place.  Warsaw is a fascinating city.  It's beautiful and a strange mixture of new and old, although what seems old is probably not as much of Old Town was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt much later.  

The Square at Old Town.  This is King Sigismund's Tower and the Palace, both of which were rebuilt. 

One of the two bears who live in Praski Park in the Praga District of Warsaw.  The city is full of parks and trees. 

Rebuilt after it was bombed in WWII.  It is not even thirty years old. 

Every day at 11:15, a trumpeter plays three times.  This is time when the castle was destroyed and the time when it was reopened.  

It had been great to get to know the city and walk around the district where I will be living next month and where the LGBT organizations have their headquarters, but I was really looking forward to Pride on Saturday.  Unfortunately, my first contact at the KPH (Campaign to Prevent Homophobia) recently left the organization and although I had sent a few emails before leaving home asking about Pride and options for walking in the parade, I did not hear back before the event.  Fortunately, there was a website for Pride and better yet, an English page so I was able to get information on where and when the parade began.  

In what I am sure will not be my last lesson on language barriers, I learned soon after heading to the start of the parade site that the English version of the site turned 15:00 into 5:00pm.  I missed the parade. Ironically, had I remained at the hostel, I would have seen it by accident as they marched right by,  but I really wanted to go with the group from the beginning.  

Of course, I was (and am to some extent still) extremely disappointed.  This was why I left home so early and it was meant to be my first real experience with the gay community of Poland.  I was frustrated and upset, but as I continued walking the path of the parade to get back to the hostel, I realized that although I did not participate in Pride proper, I still got to observe and better understand its importance for the gay community. 

Part of the reason that I am so interested in the importance of public demonstrations of solidarity is their impact on the individual.  Every time I leave a Pride event or an equality march, I feel so much less isolated.  I feel more confident and better about myself and my place in the world.  

Over the past week, I have spent most of my days walking through Warsaw, and while I have seen numerous heterosexual couples being openly affectionate, I have not seen any gay couples doing the same.  Walking the parade route was the exception.  There were so many same-sex couples.  There were people waving Pride flags.  Although I haven't felt uncomfortable in the city outside the normal feelings of being a visitor, I felt much more comfortable having seen these couples and watching the older woman happily waving her pride flag waiting on the light to change at a crosswalk. Based on the fact that I had not seen before and have not seen since the same kind of affection between same-sex couples, I would venture a guess that the feeling of comfort brought on by Pride was widespread for the queer community here. This despite the very real presence of homophobia and anti-gay violence.  See more on that below.  

In addition to the people who had been to Pride, walking the parade route also let me see the remnants of the march and to note the protests, the huge number of police officers (the more I saw, the closer I knew I was.  There have been instances of confrontation in the recent past, so there was heavy police presence.), and the spots that marchers found particularly meaningful.  I was able to observe the leftover spaces and tokens, and that in itself was a valuable experience as someone who has no idea what it is like to be gay in Warsaw outside of what I have read or heard from others.  

The church where there were lots of protestors. I thought for a minute as I walked by that they were setting up for the parade, but they were taking down the protest signs.  I took a picture on the way back. 

Although nothing was thrown at marchers this year, the first and only openly MP in Poland was verbally and physically harassed during the parade.  The incident is another example of the major tension that exists in Poland with regard to LGBT life.  I was told by another person at the hostel that material on ethnic purity was distributed as well. 

Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka was a long-term politician in Warsaw who was a feminist and ally to the community.  She was killed in a plane crash in 2010.  There were flowers and signs dedicated to her memory.  

Freedom, Equality, Solidarity

There were several primary concerns listed by the organizers of Warsaw Pride.  

Warsaw Pride Goals: 

1. Removing architectural barriers that are limiting access to different public spaces for people with disabilities and parents with prams.  Spatial exclustion is social isolation. 

2. Enacting the acts regulating relationships that aren't marriags, especially in relation to the protection of mutual guardian-legal liabilities. 

3. Introducing active antidiscrimination policy that concerns all minorities.

4. Introducing the legal regulations facilitating medical and legal process of affirmation for transsexual people. 

5. Improving the regulation concerning the protection of the rights of animals.

6. Introducing schools to the brand new, reliable and ideologically neutral education concerning human sexuality.

7. Making urban spaces accessible for the population of the city.  

These are interesting and varied goals that obviously extend beyond what might be considered the primary concerns of the LGBT community on its own.  It was nice to see such diverse concerns, and it makes me even more eager to explore the community organizations here.  As I begin to spend time with the major LGBT organizations in Warsaw after returning from Berlin on Monday, I am really interested to hear their thoughts on Pride and its importance. I want to know how they feel about the goals expressed by the organizers of Pride and what progress, if any, they feel they have made in the past few years as well as their strategies for this year and the future.  

It has been a great week in Warsaw, and I'm looking forward to Berlin but also to being able to return to Poland and get to know as much as possible about the queer community, starting with its non-profit representatives.  

This week I have been particularly thankful for: 

1. The Oki Doki and the people here who have made this week so awesome.  

2. The great friends and family from home who have checked in to make sure all is well.  

3. My mom, who talked me down when I was particularly disappointed and overwhelmed about missing Pride. 

4. Polish food

Also, happy birthday to Mimi Dunn, who is a fabulous person, friend, and roommate.  Miss you and love you lots! 

Thanks for reading, everybody!  See y'all after Berlin.  

Introduction

Hey y'all!

This is the blog where I will be chronicling my year as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow.  At the end of March, I was lucky enough to be chosen as a Watson Fellow after being named an alternate.  The Watson Fellowship funds a year of travel for recent graduates to explore a personal passion. The tab at the top of the blog navigates to the Watson website, where there is more infomration on the fellowship and each of the 40 fellows for 2013-2014.   Over the next year, I'll be traveling to Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Delhi, and Toronto (with a few shorter stops along the way), working on my project, "Out of the Closets, Into the Streets: Exploring Queer Identity through Pride Parades an Community Organizations." The project focuses on queer identity and the importance of public and private demonstrations of community for queer individuals across the globe in a number of different social and political situations.

As a queer person, I have found that Pride parades and queer community have been essential to working through my own questions and fighting against a lot of the negative experiences and fears that often come with being queer. Over the next year, I hope to investigate what it means for me to claim an identity that reaches across nationality, race, class, and religion and to see how both visible demonstrations such as Pride and more private community sites impact queer people across the world. I couldn't be more excited to be able to spend a year doing something that means so much to me personally and provides an opportunity to expand my understanding of myself and the world.

It is the coolest, if also the scariest, opportunity that I've ever had.  I am so grateful to the professors, friends, and family members who encouraged me to apply and helped throughout the process.  Thanks to all of y'all for everything, from enduring all of the fairly frantic emails and visits, to writing edits and recommendations, to, later, putting up with a shocking number of discussions of what kind and how much footwear to bring.

I'm hoping to blog once a week.  We'll see how that goes, depending on what is happening and how much internet access there is throughout traveling.  Please feel free to get in touch with any questions or just to say hello.  Thanks for reading!