2025: Being enchanted and Usambara Violets – Tracing the Rainbow in Vienna

The LGBTIQ+ community in Vienna has a long history of fighting for acceptance, legal equality, and social inclusion. Much has changed in the capital, especially since the 1970s. For example, the LGBTIQ movement has become institutionalized and established spaces that still exist today. Today, the community is diverse and vibrant. From party venues and group meetings to cultural events, conferences, and counseling centers, there are many places that encourage interaction, connection, and networking. One challenge is determining which groups of people use these structures and services and who is included or excluded from them. While most community spaces are primarily frequented by younger people, LGBTIQ individuals tend to withdraw from community life as they age, becoming scarcely visible. The pandemic has further weakened community spaces and structures due to restrictions on social contact, making mutual exchange, solidarity, and support more difficult. The project aimed to facilitate intergenerational exchange and bring together different generations of LGBTIQ individuals under the banner of community building.

Through this project, the IKF contributes to exploring the history of the queer movement in Vienna. In cooperation with the film production company FQM, nine video portraits were created featuring individuals who have significantly shaped or helped build LGBTIQ community spaces in Vienna. Andreas Brunner, Angela Schwarz, Ernst Silbermayr, Eva Fels, Karin Schönpflug, Marty Huber, Michaela Tulipan, Tinou Ponzer, and Waltraud Riegler.

All videos are available on the IKF’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@IKF_Wien). Additionally, a trailer was created using video footage and shown in select Vienna cinemas in November and December 2023.

The closing event of the project, known as "Generationencafé", took place on February 2, 2024, at HOSI in Vienna. Promoted through flyers, posters, movie theaters, and LGBTIQ community spaces, the event drew a large crowd.

The follow-up project, "LGBTIQ Stories Continue" (2024–2025), builds on the previous project, "LGBTIQ Stories in Vienna." In addition to the video portraits, a brochure has been produced that showcases the diverse voices of the LGBTIQ community. Individuals who identify as part of the community were invited to submit contributions for this purpose. The publication explores a wide range of topics from various perspectives. The varied forms of the contributions also demonstrate heterogeneity: concrete examinations of organizational history, cross-generational photo stories, personal accounts of identity formation as an LGBTIQ migrant, and poems. The contributions are artistic, personal, and creative.

The brochure was presented on January 14, 2025, at the Wien Museum. In connection with the presentation, the IKF organized a panel discussion featuring Viktoria Eberhardt (IKF), Brigitte Temel (IKF), Karin Schönpflug (IHS), and Andreas Brunner (QWIEN). The event hall at the Wien Museum was filled with visitors who showed keen interest in the brochure.