Aidshilfe remains stable

I am observing several reactions here. Due to the pressure that marginalised groups in particular, such as queer people, are increasingly experiencing, more and more are withdrawing from their safe spaces.

The IWWIT team travels a lot around the country, especially during the CSD season, and in the last year I have increasingly noticed through conversations on site that many queers are less and less confident about visiting community venues because they no longer seem safe to them. For example, because vandalism occurs there time and again or visitors are even afraid of being harassed or attacked.

We are also observing that queer projects are increasingly being affected by cost-cutting measures at both municipal and state level. As a result, such programmes are becoming fewer and far between and eventually disappearing altogether.

That's right. Queer people have long fought to no longer have to hide, but to be able to live openly and freely. But if we now lose these places, community work will also become more difficult. Of course, you can also network digitally and exchange ideas online. But it's simply different when you want to exchange ideas, get to know each other or organise in face-to-face conversations. If people withdraw again due to the political situation, they also lose access to community, such as cultural, leisure and health programmes.

This brings us to another worrying socio-political development. Last year, for example, the IWWIT YouTube channel was blocked. As is well known, the owner is Google's parent company Alphabet. In Europe, too, we have become heavily dependent on US online platforms, which have their very own idea of censorship. If web content does not conform to what the US government deems to be right and important, the response is very quick with deletion and blocking. And that of course has a major impact on our prevention work, but also on the opportunities for networking.

Whether IWWIT will continue will be decided every five years. This is when the funding organisations, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Institute of Public Health, evaluate our work and review our concept for the future.

Yes, and we are very happy that we were able to convince those responsible of the necessity and importance of our work, but also of our concept for the coming years. However, we have also noticed that IWWIT as a project and what it stands for is increasingly being scrutinised by many different stakeholders - not in a critical and constructive way, but rather in a damning and derogatory manner.

This development can also be seen at a political level, for example through small or large questions from individual parties in the Bundestag. We were worried about whether our work would continue to be funded. Other important projects, especially in the areas of health promotion, anti-racism or LGBTIQ* rights, which are dependent on public funding, have to fear for their existence. When savings have to be made, such initiatives and projects are often the first to be cancelled because they are increasingly no longer considered important and are deemed dispensable.

Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. The actual sums with which such and other projects are funded by organisations, associations and initiatives with public subsidies are often not that large, but they represent an important part of the overall funding. If this money is missing, the programmes are often completely cancelled.

If, for example, a contact café or advice centre is run on a voluntary basis, but the room rent has so far been largely financed by subsidies, such places will be lost when these funds are withdrawn. This means that many people - whether queer or those with a history of migration - will lose an important opportunity to connect and participate in social life. This is another reason why it is important that Aidshilfe remains stable - so that we don't lose these networks and all the people who would otherwise fall through the cracks. We therefore need to strengthen not only our locations and services, but also our community.

AIDS service organisations and IWWIT have always regarded prevention work and sexual education as political. This is because we not only stand up for people with HIV, but also for a wide range of marginalised groups. For example, for people with HIV who may lose all access to healthcare systems if the political situation worsens. We are also committed to ensuring that people who have experienced flight have access to the healthcare system at all.

We will therefore combine our prevention work with political education more than ever before. Because we realise that one is not possible without the other. We naturally like to talk about sexuality and sex, and everything that goes with it. We all want love, we want spaces where we feel safe and comfortable, and we want to be recognised and respected by society for what we are: queer people. However, all of this can no longer be taken for granted.

We don't just want to educate the community, we also want to encourage them to talk about these issues and not become invisible: Go out, meet up, join forces!

We have set ourselves a clear conceptual focus for the new funding period. We will endeavour to be more present than ever on the various digital platforms that we already use. More than ever, we want to get in touch with people who we cannot or no longer reach in analogue life, for example at events during the CSD season. IWWIT has therefore also launched its own TikTok channel in order to reach another, very young target group in this way.

That's a good question. Activism has many facets and there are numerous ways to make a difference. You can join many others at a CSD demonstration to demand your rights and ensure visibility. You can write a letter to a member of the Bundestag or to those responsible in your city council. But every single conversation can also make a difference in your own personal environment, simply by taking a clear stance.

The important thing is to look after yourself and stay informed. It's not just about what's happening in the Bundestag or with the parties, but also about what's happening at local level, right on your doorstep. IWWIT and Deutsche Aidshilfe will continue to be a trustworthy platform where you can obtain information on specific issues.

But what is also important for me to say is that we are living in turbulent times and all the bad news can put a mental strain on us. That's why anyone who is actively involved and takes a stand can only do so if they also look after themselves and their own health and allow themselves the necessary rest and time out.