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They come out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, non-binary and trans: 185 actors want to initiate a public debate with a joint manifesto in the magazine of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
The signatories include Maren Kroymann, Godehard Giese, Mark Waschke, Karin Hanczewski, Ulrich Matthes, Jaecki Schwarz and Mavie Hörbiger.
"So far we have not been able to deal openly with our private life in our job without fear of professional consequences," the article says.
Too often they have been advised to keep their own sexual orientation a secret.
“That is over now.” Diversity has long been a social reality in Germany, write the artists.
This diversity should be represented by the film and television industry.
The audience is ready for it.
In the interview, six of the 185 signatories call on their industry and society to make diversity even more visible.
They criticize the images of men and women that are conveyed on television and in the cinema.
Lesbian actresses feared falling out of “the pool of women or female roles that are desirable for men” and no longer being cast, says Karin Hanczewski.
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The artists want to be visible as a minority.
In the family or among friends, they have come out behind them, says Godehard Giese.
“But we are not visible to the public with our sexual identity.
It is always assumed that one belongs to the norm. ”His colleague Jonathan Berlin describes it as an“ act of self-love ”to come out.
As a teenager, he lacked role models “to deal with it more freely”.
Karin Hanczewski criticizes the fact that she was told in her job not to come out.
She also speaks of “liberation” and adds: “I always had the utopian wish that when I come out, it would have a political and social relevance.
As an individual, I would have to be very well known for that to change something. ”But they could change something in a group.