“Not everyone has to celebrate sex”

Even companies are now flying the rainbow flag, Pride is celebrated with self-confidence. Do we need another book about ‘queer love and life’ today?
It is tempting to think that we have already achieved everything in terms of equality, because then we can sit back and relax. However, the fact is that Switzerland ranks 19th in a European comparison in terms of LGBT friendliness. This is wretched mediocrity!

And who should read the book?
While I was writing, I thought of people who were not yet engaged in the subject. In daily life I experience that many people are overwhelmed by all the terms and letter sequences.

Let’s start right away with this series of LGBTQI letters. The B has a special place in it for you. What does it mean?
The B stands for bisexuality, by definition it denotes people who are attracted to more than one gender. And to me it represents that most of our lives are not as binary as we think. We grow up thinking that there are ‘normal people’ and ‘gays’, but there is so much more in between and outside.

In one of your texts you write that your personal coming out to your mother was also a letting in, in other words, your willingness to let someone participate in your life. How can this succeed?
Sharing information can help. You don’t have to become a “Queer-Wikipedia” yourself, but you can tell people where to get started with the topics: articles, podcasts, movies, or even organizations and groups.

In your lyrics you repeatedly refer to pop songs, to Miley Cyrus, Queen and Katy Perry. Why are they appropriate for talking about sexual orientation?
I discovered feminism relatively late because I was put off by the usual academic approach. Popular culture creates an accessibility that is often underestimated. And feminism should be accessible to everyone, because it affects everyone.

You often mention Katy Perry in particular…
I think the editor even took it down once because it happened so often, yes (laughs).

Why?
Her song “I Kissed a Girl” is a great example of the presence of bisexuality in our society. By that I mean the concept that women in a relationship are allowed to kiss other women, firstly because it doesn’t really count and secondly because the man finds it a bit hot too. I don’t agree at all! This is based on the premise that the only valid love should be between a man and a woman and that when women have something together it is for the male gaze only. The content of such songs, with which we sing along and to which we dance, also determines the image we have of the world.

You also use gender-neutral wording in your book. Why?
Once you have accepted that there are not more than one, but more than two genders, that is almost automatically reflected in the language. It may come as a surprise, but gender-sensitive language is not a particularly important topic for me. I’m not primarily advocating that we introduce special characters – even when I use them in writing – I’m advocating that less gay people die. It’s related, but the special characters aren’t my priority.

Nevertheless, gender language is becoming mandatory in many places. It is forced on people.
I think the impression that something is being forced on you can only come from not realizing how many queer people there are in Switzerland. Some are uncomfortable with the fact that they now need a degree of visibility because it calls into question many of our standards.

At other times you express yourself in a non-sensitive way. You write about sluts and gays. Do you want to provoke?
Everything we women do should be wrapped in cotton candy, I am against that. The term “slut” is a devaluation of an existence – namely a sexually self-determined woman – that I do not accept. So I use a technique called “reclaiming” so I’m proud to reclaim such terms.

Very few women would describe themselves as “proud sluts”. Are they too tense?
“Being tense” is another accusation directed mainly at women.

Yet you write in a passage that you wish you had known about feminist porn sooner. Is there a lack of offers for female pleasure?
Yes, but it’s getting better. However, I don’t want everyone to celebrate sex. The point is that everyone, man or woman, with many, few or no sex partners, can live out their sexuality in a self-determined way.

Your book aims to contribute to this. Can it also be read as an educational book?
You can (laughs). My book is about queer identities and about sexuality because I’m interested in both. But it’s not the same. Lesbians and gays appear more often – as a fetish – in pornography than in sex education. That’s a problem, because a foreign identity is not inherently sexual.

Does that make your book a book you would have loved to read as a teenager?
Absolute! Teenager Anna would have read it, but she would have been very skeptical. When I first read a feminist book, I rolled my eyes and told others.