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🇩🇪 Germany /Culture & Society

‘Beer, Boobs, Brezn’: Munich Oktoberfest to host lesbian party

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources New plan
  • Munich’s Oktoberfest will host an event for queer women and FLINTA people on Sept. 21, drawing about 700 attendees to the Bräurosl tent.
  • Organizer Sina Scherer said lesbian women have had few visible spaces at the festival and in Munich, prompting her team to create its own event.
  • The new Rosa Monday will extend the Bräurosl tent’s established queer programming, which has traditionally attracted mostly gay men.

A new Oktoberfest event called “Beer, Boobs, Brezn” will give queer women and FLINTA people a dedicated celebration in Munich’s Bräurosl tent on Sept. 21. Organizers expect about 700 attendees, one day after the festival’s traditional Gay Sunday, which mainly draws gay men.

Where are the lesbian women?

· Sina SchererThe event organizer questioned the limited visibility of lesbian women at Oktoberfest and in Munich.

For organizer Sina Scherer, that imbalance is the point. “Where are the lesbian women?” she asked, saying Munich once had many more places where lesbian women could meet openly and naturally, especially in the Glockenbachviertel district. Many of those venues have disappeared, she said, and the Oktoberfest has shown a similar pattern.

“There have been established queer dates for decades, but lesbian women have barely had a visible role as their own community,” Scherer said. Her response was direct: “At some point we said, then we will not wait for someone to create a space for us. We will create it ourselves.” Her Lost Girls events have been running for some time, but the Oktoberfest gathering is a first.

At some point we said, then we will not wait for someone to create a space for us. We will create it ourselves.

· Sina SchererScherer explained why she and her team launched their own events.

Scherer said the festival may be a useful setting precisely because it is not a conventional queer space. “The Wiesn belongs to Munich’s society as a whole,” she told the German Press Agency. “Different generations, nationalities, social groups and ways of life sit next to one another on the beer benches. And queer life should be visible there as something ordinary, not only in a queer club or at Pride.”

The Wiesn belongs to Munich’s society as a whole.

· Sina SchererShe argued that Oktoberfest can serve as a public space where queer life is visible.

Bräurosl hosts Franziska and Peter Reichert said the Rosa Sunday event has existed for more than 40 years and attracts an audience that is 90 percent male. They said demand grows each year and exceeds capacity, leading to the idea of extending the celebration with Rosa Monday and adding the new lesbian-focused event.

Different generations, nationalities, social groups and ways of life sit next to one another on the beer benches. And queer life should be visible there as something ordinary, not only in a queer club or at Pride.

· Sina SchererScherer described her case for holding the event at the mainstream festival.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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