Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of us took to the streets of Berlin for CSD, a vibrant, unapologetic explosion of love, resistance, and queer joy. Armed with colour, noise, and absolute pride, our community showed up in full force to celebrate how far we’ve come and to reclaim our space in a city that has long been a sanctuary for freedom.
Photographer Carmen Teixeira was on the ground for KALTBLUT, capturing the radiant, beautiful faces of our community before the devastating terror attack shook us to our core. Looking at these images now, they are not just portraits; they are living proof of our brilliance, our softness, our strength, and our humanity.
The tragedy that unfolded was meant to instil fear, to drive us back into the shadows, and to force us to retreat. But whoever sought to break us fundamentally miscalculated who we are.
Queer history has always been a history of survival, resilience, and fierce solidarity. We have survived centuries of oppression, violence, erasure, and systematic neglect. We survived because we took care of each other, because we fought back, and because our right to exist, love, and thrive is non-negotiable. You cannot scare a community that has built its entire legacy on turning adversity into liberation. You cannot cancel us. You cannot kill our spirit.
WE ARE NOT THE ENEMY!
*Barbie Breakout
Now is not the time to shrink, hide, or let fear dictate our future. Now is the time to stand closer together, to hold each other tighter, and to fight back with even greater conviction. Our joy is our greatest political weapon, and our visibility is our superpower. We will continue to dance, to love, to create, and to occupy the streets, louder, prouder, and more united than ever before.
To everyone injured, and to every queer soul feeling the weight of this moment: we are with you. We are not going anywhere. We have survived before, we are surviving now, and we will keep fighting together.
Photography by Carmen Teixeira for KALTBLUT Magazine.
@carmensheis – carmen-teixeira.com
