“Get Me Right – Criminalization of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders and the Catholic Church” exhibition

From August 13th in St. Joseph in Munster

Exhibition on the persecution of homosexuals in a church for the first time

An exhibition shows how queer people worldwide suffer from state and church - in a church. More precisely: in St. Joseph south of the city center of Münster.  Parish priest, Father Weidisch relates what it's all about.

Father Weidisch, what can people expect from the exhibition?

You get to know a dozen Catholics from countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense. Same-sex acts or lifestyles are currently punishable in more than 70 countries worldwide. This ranges from fines to several years in prison to the death penalty. Poster displays will explain what being queer means under these circumstances in people's home countries and what role faith plays for them. They report from countries in which the Catholic Church has great influence - and often a proximity to the attitude of the state.

In Münster, the exhibition, which was already on view in a shopping center in Recklinghausen, will be shown for the first time in a church in the Diocese of Münster. Why?

As St. Joseph's Church is centrally located, because it is open most of the time during the day, because it allows for more visits than if we show the exhibition in a rectory. The queer community asked us. We also decided to include several locations in the parish of St. Joseph Münster-Süd around the “Christopher Street Day” in Münster. The queer community has been associated with our parish for almost 25 years. Always on the evening of the second Sunday of the month, she celebrates a service in the crypt of the Antonius church. The service on the occasion of the CSD will be in the Heilig-Geist-Kirche on August 27th, where the rainbow flag has been hoisted in the weeks before. The Josephs-Kirche will be added with the exhibition.

Homosexual people also experience discrimination in Germany and in the Catholic Church in this country. Why isn't that also the subject of the exhibition?

The focus is deliberately on countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense. The exhibition wants to draw attention to this - and to the attitude of the church in the countries. It is true that there is also discrimination in Germany. But I think that the Catholic Church in this country has already been sensitized to the topic in recent years - for example with the #OutInChurch campaign.

The exhibition “Get Me Right – Criminalization of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgenders and the Catholic Church” is open daily from August 13th to 27th from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the St. Joseph Church in Münster, Hammer Straße see. The exhibition will be officially opened on Tuesday, August 15 at 7 p.m. According to the queer community, Thomas Pöschl, board member of the ecumenical working group "Homosexuals and Church" and initiator of the exhibition, Iris Horstmann, consultant for diversity in the Diocese of Münster and Father Karsten Weidisch of St. Joseph are speaking.

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