Can Love Be a Sin? Queerness in Fascism: The Case of Bruno Balz - Premiere

"The world won't come to an end
Even if sometimes it looks grey
One day it will be colorful again
One day the sky will be blue again"

When librettist Bruno Balz writes the classic "The world won't come to an end" in 1941 for a forthcoming propaganda film, he is sitting in prison. The Gestapo arrested him shortly before because of his homosexuality. Although his lyrics, set to music by Zarah Leander, are enormously successful, his name can no longer appear in public. His photographs are destroyed and he is forced into a heterosexual marriage.

Not until 1994 is Paragraph 175 repealed and homosexuality no longer prosecuted in Germany. Since 2001, same-sex couples can enter into registered partnerships. Yet many people increasingly feel unsafe. The political persecution of trans people in the USA, arson attacks on queer cafés in Berlin, or the repeated banning of Pride marches are just the tip of the iceberg. People who do not conform to heterosexual norms are again subjected to physical or verbal violence.

A look at the past serves as a possible view into the future. In a blend of music and monologue, Bruno Balz is brought back to the stage by singer and actor Dominik Müller under the direction of Franziska Detrez. Through his case, one can trace the transformation from the open society of the 1920s to the fascism of the 1930s and 1940s. What lessons can we draw from this for today's society? What kind of society do we want to live in?