As Luxembourg gears up for Pride Week, a spotlight is being shone on the experiences of the LGBTQIA+ community in the Grand Duchy. Three individuals have shared their personal journeys with RTL.
Their struggles highlight the need to keep a spotlight on LGBTQIA+ rights in 2023.
Eric Glod, table tennis player
At 29, Eric Glod is not just one of Luxembourg's top athletes, but also a champion for LGBTQIA+ rights. The four-time national table tennis champion, who currently plays in Austria, is known as much for his sporting prowess as for his advocacy. His commitment to the cause is symbolised by the rainbow flag he painted on his face alongside the Luxembourg flag at the Games of the Small States.
Eric has been using his platform to champion LGBTQIA+ rights for about a year, spurred into action by an incident in which a friend was attacked in Vienna due to his sexual orientation.
Eric's own journey to acceptance was a long one. He realised he was gay at the age of 14, but it took him nearly a decade to come out - a process he describes as "involuntary". At the time, he found it hard to reconcile his sexual orientation with his public persona.
Despite his fears, Eric's coming out was met with positive reactions in his sporting environment. However, he acknowledges that many athletes still fear rejection and negative reactions due to their sexual orientation. For Eric, this fear underscores the importance of continuing to address and discuss LGBTQIA+ issues.
Eric's advocacy is also shaped by his own experiences growing up in the 2000s, a time when derogatory terms associated with being gay were still prevalent. These experiences have left a lasting impact on him and fuel his ongoing commitment to promoting LGBTQIA+ rights.
Yannick Schumacher, influencer
36-year-old Yannick Schumacher is a graphic designer, influencer and podcaster from Dudelange, where he was a regular victim of insults in his youth.
"People were proud to make homophobic statements", explains Yannick, also known as Yaya. To this day, he finds hate speech on his social media platforms such as Instagram, where he has nearly 7,000 followers.
However, he believes that being queer in Luxembourg is easier than abroad. And even if most of the comments still bounces off him today, according to the motto "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger", daily insolence still leaves its mark.
"People have no idea that years of repeated abuse accumulate. When I walk through the village and people call me a faggot, it definitely messes up my day. I always notice when people talk about me, plus I'm not only gay, I'm overweight - another pigeonhole I get put in."
Over the years, he has let a lot of things go, but he drew the line with after a stinging experience. After Yannick had been insulted by a stranger, he decided to take action for the first time and tried to file a complaint with the police. However, he was not taken seriously at the police station, which he then raised on Instagram.
With the video, Yannick triggered a wave of positive reactions, and he also received support at his job. "I never expected my bosses to come up to me and tell me that not only do I have a safe space here at work, but also that I should report any form of mistreatment immediately. It made me feel better pretty much immediately, ut that's the way it's supposed to be."
Yannick also underlined his wish for more support at the official level in the form of a contact point for victims of hate-motivated discrimination.
CHAiLD, musician
Adriano Lopes Da Silva, more widely recognised by his stage name CHAiLD, shares a similar journey to Yannick when it comes to coming out. Four years on, he reflects on this milestone as a moment of liberation.
"This has taken up so much space in my head since I was six years old. You get up, it's on your mind. You go to sleep, it's on your mind," he shares. Since coming out, Adriano has experienced a newfound mental freedom, realising just how much mental energy was previously consumed by his struggle. "Now I can start my life," he declares.
The same year he came out, Adriano launched the CHAiLD project. He felt immediately accepted as an openly LGBTQ+ member in the music scene. "I just found a place where it was suddenly okay to be different. It was even encouraged to be different!" he enthuses.
However, Adriano acknowledges that his positive experiences may be partly due to his privileges. "I'm a man, I'm cis, and I'm white. The fact that I'm gay is the only thing that's a bit out of the norm. If I were a person of colour, if I were trans, if I expressed my queerness differently - how would that go down? And that's exactly the question I'm starting to ask myself now."
Adriano is now committed to amplifying the voices of those with fewer opportunities. With Pride Month in full swing, he believes it's a crucial time to address the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community. However, he also raises concerns about the risk of commercialisation. "The question is often: am I booked because I make good music or because I fulfil a certain quota?"
Looking ahead, Adriano hopes for a future where people think outside the box. But above all, he yearns for an end to the hate that still plagues the LGBTQ+ community.
