2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a turning point in the struggle of queer people for equality worldwide. Today, gays, lesbians and transgender people hold leading positions in politics, management and in important social institutions. With advancing equality, a “queer establishment” has emerged that is oriented towards the norms and values of the bourgeois mainstream. Is this development a blessing or a curse? Is there room for a self-confident assertion of difference in the elites? Can we expect a different policy from queer politicians, a different leadership style from queer managers? In cooperation with the Goethe-Institut, the Schwules Museum Berlin and the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, the closing panel of the touring conference “Queer Commons – Queer Conflicts” will take place at the Schaubühne as part of the supporting programme of the international touring exhibition “Queer as German Folk”. The German version is currently running at the Schwules Museum under the title “Love at First Fight!”

Dr. Julia Borggräfe (born 1974) is Head of the Department Digitalization and the Workplace at the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales) since its inception in May 2018. After finishing her university studies in law, she completed her academic and professional career working in New York, Paris and Tel Aviv, as well as publishing on topics of employment law and personnel policy. She worked as Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Governance at Messe Berlin (Berlin Fair) and as Senior Manager HR Western Europe Sales & Financial Services at Daimler AG Stuttgart, and as a consultant for change management, organizational development, human resources and corporate and management culture.

Anastasia Bucsis was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, and started speed skating at the age of 4. Within her 24 year speed skating career she represented Canada at 2 Olympic Games, 6 World Championships and 46 World Cup starts. She was the only athlete from North America to come out publicly in opposition to Russia’s anti LGBTQ+ laws before the Sochi 2014 Olympics. She now lives in Toronto and works for CBC Sports where she hosts »Players Own Voice- The Podcast« which debuted at #3 on iTunes. She is a passionate advocate for mental health issues, eradicating homophobia in sport, and telling the stories of Canada’s High Performance athletes.

John Quinn is a partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, a cutting-edge boutique litigation firm based in NYC.  John was one of the co-founders of the firm in 2017, along with Roberta Kaplan, who is best known for her Supreme Court victory »U.S. v. Windsor«, which paved the way for same-sex marriage nationwide.  John represents Airbnb, Uber, Gigi Hadid, Ariana Grande, and a wide range of businesses and individuals in high-profile civil litigation matters, from small tech startups to global investment firms.  John also leads the firm’s efforts in a number of public interest matters.  John spearheaded the development of a massive RICO case against President Trump and his family and businesses, worked on multiple amicus briefs filed in the US Supreme Court in cases challenging various executive actions by the Trump administration, and represented a student-led LGBT pride organization in Starkville, Mississippi, in a successful constitutional challenge to the city’s denial of a parade permit—and then flew to Starkville to help lead the parade.  John was selected by Super Lawyers as a 2018 New York Rising Star in Business Litigation and was named one of the Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40 by the National LGBT Bar Association.

Lucía Riojas Martínez was born in Mexico City on February 1988. She is a feminist, a lesbian, a drummer and a federal deputy without party. In 2010 she enrolled in the Universidad Iberoamericana (IBERO) to study Communications. It was then and there that she became involved in one of the most important political projects of her life: being a part of the student movement #YoSoy132. In 2017, alongside other free men and women, she cofounded a citizen’s initiative called AHORA (Now). Their goal was to fight to return political power to common people by taking a stand against rampant impunity in the Mexican political class and contending electorally for legislative positions. Since then, Lucía and her companions have worked towards ending Mexico’s pervasive corruption practices and the impunity with which the political class operates and towards peace-building in the current context of widespread violence, while simultaneously being a vocal defender of the rights of women, the LGBTTTI+ community, and against militarization in Mexico.