Bratwurst, Beer, But Not Queer: Homophobia at Oktoberfest

Photo by Chandramohan Sudar on Unsplash.

After being canceled  for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Oktoberfest – or simply called “Wiesn” by Germans – returns in 2022. Many questions, however, remain unanswered. Most notably, will there be COVID-19 restrictions like masks and social distancing enforced on the six million visitors expected to attend the lavish folk fest in late September and early October?

Unfortunately, it seems that issues of public health fall behind other concerns on oktoberfestportal.de, the primary website where fans of the Wiesn can obtain information on current events and guidelines. The website has caused a stir with a post titled “Pink Wiesn”. The post, circulated widely across social media platforms, offered tips for “the gay Wiesn goer.” 

Singling out gay men

Coding “pink” for “gay” like a slur, the post goes on to say that while flirting between men is “not totally forbidden,” it should be “kept to a minimum” so as not to impose the “gay or lesbian lifestyle.” The post especially flagged men flirting with male waitstaff as improper, claiming that “tents are not the right place to teach people tolerance and equal rights”. 

“Hiding behind lines of paternalistic advice to ensure the “safety” of “pink” Wiesn goers, telling gay men to keep their sexualities a secret continues to deny the full participation of gay men and queer people in public social life.”

The post has caused a debate on German social media about discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community, especially as it was published in June, internationally known as LGBTQ+ Pride Month. One of Munich’s city council officials, Anja Berger, remarked disapprovingly that this attitude was “hostile towards the LGBT community, and therefore unacceptable.” 

In effect, the post once again frames the burden of social change as an issue of the queer minority (about 7,4% of Germans identify as being a part of the LGBTQ+ community) while ignoring the social responsibility of the heterosexual majority. In this specific case, gay men’s informal rights are especially undermined. 

Globally, public displays of affection and the public existence of non-heterosexual love and sexuality are often frowned upon, criminalized, or violently oppressed by the heterosexual majority. While heterosexual couples often engage in small acts of public love such as kissing, holding hands or other physical contact, these same behaviors are still seen as a political and provocative in queer people, especially gay men. 

These informal rights have been undermined by the oktoberfestportal.de post as they place the responsibility for any discriminatory action and homophobic hate on gay men. Hiding behind lines of paternalistic advice to ensure the “safety” of “pink” Wiesn goers, telling gay men to keep their sexualities a secret continues to deny the full participation of gay men and queer people in public social life.

A ritual of cohesion and exclusion

In the most comprehensive study of Oktoberfest so far, Brigitte Veiz parallels the biggest contemporary folk fest of the world with ancient Greek worship festivals for the god Dionysus. Employing ritual theory by Victor Turner and Arnold van Gennep, Veiz argues that the Wiesn are an illustration of a quasi-ritual serving social cohesion through the consumption of alcohol as a catalyst. 

“The painful irony of Pride Month as a backdrop to the controversy is also an important reminder that anti-queer hate crimes in Germany have increased by almost 70% compared to last year. Discrimination against people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community in Germany is higher than the European average, often attributed to a continued invisibility of queer people in mainstream media and the education system. ”

Gay men are singled out as not welcome in this social ritual by denying them the full expression of their humanity under the disguise of “personal safety”. Interestingly, gay men are either singled out or stand in for the entirety of non-heterosexual sexuality as lesbians are only mentioned once. The author speculates that this is partly due to the fetishization of lesbian woman and, therefore, no threat to the sexual objectification of women in traditionally revealing German dirndls.

Since the first public outcry during the first week of June, oktoberfestportal.de has added a pop-up window to their “Pink Wiesn” post, amending that “if you have a problem with this lifestyle, you should close this page,” yet making no changes to the original content of the post. Further saying they welcome “lively discussions” in the comment section, the website owners are quick to mention that they are unable to react, read, comment on, or monitor the conversation. This effectively means that homophobic hate comments will not be deleted, and any constructive criticism will be ignored as preparations for Oktoberfest 2022 are in full swing. 

Rising homophobia

The painful irony of Pride Month as a backdrop to the controversy is also an important reminder that anti-queer hate crimes in Germany have increased by almost 70% compared to last year. Discrimination against people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community in Germany is higher than the European average, often attributed to a continued invisibility of queer people in mainstream media and the education system. 

The newest statistics continue a trend that shows the materialization of a lack of “tolerance and equal rights,” rights that are now even discouraged from being evoked in Germany’s cheerful beer party, suggesting that the Wiesn are neither pink nor any other rainbow color.