Hashtag #actout: this is the name of the initiative with which 185 lesbian, homosexual, queer, bisexual and trans actors and actresses in Germany let their faces be published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung to claim more recognition in the world of theater, cinema and tv.
A real manifesto aimed at the entertainment world and German society to accept them as they are, without pushing them or forcing them to silence.
Karin Hanczewski, beloved star of the most famous and historic German 'yellow' television series Tatort ", tells how the idea was born.
"We were at a film festival six months ago where I had a film in competition and my girlfriend accompanied me. I knew there was going to be a red carpet and photographers. My agent at the time advised me not to take mine to the red carpet. girlfriend".
What's wrong with us?
The young Hanczewski asks "others can bring male and female partners and if I'm homosexual, better not do it!".
Many colleagues had had the same experience, the actress continues in the story, and from this the extreme need for a step forward towards collective coming-out.
Six of them let themselves be interviewed in the Sz magazine on gender clichés and on the warnings always in the entertainment world to avoid coming-out.
As if it were the end of the world and of the career.
The goal is to create debate on diversity in German society, they explain.
Why right now?
The journalist asks Jonathan Berlin, a young promise of 27 years.
"I have the feeling that the time is ripe. For me it's an act of self-love," he explains.
The six interviewees tell of traumas linked to homophobia, of the pain of non-acceptance, in the family or in the workplace.
And a gesture of collective courage was what it took to send nightmares and fears to the cellar.
Because silence is not always golden.
