In 2025, the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar celebrated its fourth »Campus Pride Week« once again with a diverse programme of events and advocated for queer visibility and gender equality: From Monday, 16 June to Saturday, 21 June, various initiatives, departments and university divisions invited all university members and interested visitors to events on queer topics.
Campus Pride Week 2025 was organized by the Equal Opportunity Office, the Diversity Department, the StuKo Departments »QueerYMR« and »Bauhaus.Internationals«, the student initiatives »Maschinenraum«, »Kollektiv Raumstation« and »Café s140«, the experimental radio »Bauhaus.FM«, the courses »Queering Spaces« and »Objectophilia«, representatives of the Student Council of the Faculty of Art and Design, and the Professorship History, Theory and Aesthetics of Material Cultures, in cooperation with the Dyke March* Weimar, the CSD Weimar, TIAM — Trans-Inter-Aktiv in Mitteldeutschland e.V., the AIDS-Hilfe Weimar & Ostthüringen e.V. and the initiative »Künstler Buddies mehrmals treffen«.
To kick off the theme week, a banner with the »Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag« was once again displayed on the Main Building’s central balcony. The flag symbolises the diversity of gender identities and sexual orientations, making the university’s position visible.
Prof. Peter Benz, President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, explains: »We are delighted that the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag is now flying over the university campus for Campus Pride Week for the fourth time. With this gesture, we want to demonstrate that we are committed to diversity and the rights of queer people and are firmly opposed to any discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. We are continuously working to break down existing barriers, especially for trans/inter/non-binary (TIN*) people in everyday university life, and to sensitise people to their concerns.«
Here you can learn more about the history and meaning of the »Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag«.
Campus Pride Week 2025 opened on Monday evening with a public film screening in the Maurice Halbwachs Auditorium. Together with TIAM—Trans-Inter-Aktiv in Mitteldeutschland e.V., the Equal Opportunity Office and the Diversity Department screened the award-winning film »Mutt« (2023) by US director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz. The film authentically and captivatingly depicts 24 hours in the life of the young Latino trans man Feña.
The theme week kicked off musically with the »Queer Radio Show« on »Bauhaus.FM«. Together with the StuKo Department »QueerYMR«, the experimental radio station at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar put on a four-hour programme with three different shows. In addition to lots of queer music, listeners also had the opportunity to send greetings or pick up relationship tips »beyond the cis-hetero-monogamous monopoly« during a live call-in programme.
On Tuesday afternoon, Carsten Saeger (artistic staff member of the M.F.A programme »Public Art and New Artistic Strategies«) and students of his course »Queering Spaces« invited the interested public to the opening of the exhibition »Ephemeral Encounters« in the university library. The exhibition was based on an open call for (artistic) contributions in the form of ephemeral materialities that would make queer knowledge and personal experiences visible in the library. The works were exhibited in transparent acrylic boxes and entered into a direct dialogue with the library's collection as forms of »lived experience«. The resulting »queer ephemeral archive« invited visitors to »cruise« through the holdings — beyond fixed categories and linear orders.
In the evening, the StuKo Department »QueerYMR« offered a workshop on »How to Plan a Party/Protest« in the Maschinenraum at M18. Participants learned how to break down the organisation of such events into their individual parts. The workshop also offered queer students and their allies a space to exchange ideas and network.
As part of the »Working Matter« project, the Professorship History, Theory and Aesthetics of Material Cultures organised a lecture by Franziska Haug on »Queer Materialism«. The lecture took place in the Van de Velde Building and was open to all members and affiliates of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.
As part of the course »Objectophilia« (led by Miria Müller, artistic staff member with the Junior Professorship Emerging Technologies and Design), the lecture »Objectophilia — A Look at Philia and Paraphilia from a Sexological-Psychological Perspective« by psychologist and sex therapist Andreas Bauer took place on Wednesday morning. Bauer's lecture, which was organised together with representatives of the K+G Student Council, explored the question of how people develop both erotic and emotional relationships with »objects«.
In the afternoon, the StuKo Department »QueerYMR« and the student initiative »Kollektiv Raumstation« organised a campus walk under the motto »Toilettengang 2.0: Campus Edition«. The participants playfully explored various washrooms at the university together and tested them for gender neutrality, accessibility and other factors.
Also on Wednesday afternoon, the StuKo Departments »QueerYMR« and »Bauhaus.Internationals« co-hosted a new edition of the »Language Café« entitled »Queer Slang and Secret Languages« in Café s140. The guests learnt about queer slang and secret languages such as Gayle, Polari and Lubunyaca and found out where these secret languages came from, how they developed and how they have influenced other languages and vice versa.
In the evening, the team from the AIDS-Hilfe Weimar & Ostthüringen e.V. offered a free and anonymous HIV and syphilis test for queer people on the occasion of Campus Pride Week and the Dyke* March Weimar. Interested persons received competent counselling before the test and were able to ask questions about HIV, syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections.
In cooperation with the initiative »Künstler Buddies mehrmals treffen«, the StuKo Department »QueerYMR« organised a »Queer Zine Workshop« at Marienstraße 7 on Wednesday evening. In addition to opportunities to express themselves artistically, the workshop also offered participants information on self-publishing and the opportunity for community building.
Together with the Dyke* March Weimar and CSD Weimar, the Equal Opportunity Office and the Diversity Department hosted an open-air screening of the film »Crossing« (2024). The film, which won the Teddy Jury Award at the Berlinale, follows Lia, a retired teacher who is searching for her trans niece Tekla, who has been rejected by her family, in Istanbul. As in previous years, the open-air cinema took place on the lawn in front of the Van de Velde Building. The initiative »Offenes Antifaschistisches Treffen Weimar« provided the roughly 60 spectators with drinks in Café s140.
Under the title »Queer Bauhaus«, an open meeting for queer employees of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar took place on Friday evening at the Bauhaus.Atelier. The purpose of the meeting was to get to know each other personally, exchange experiences with colleagues and network with other queer employees.
At the same time, the weekly open meeting of the StuKo Department »QueerYMR« took place in the Maschinenraum at M18. All queer students of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar (HfM) were invited.
On Saturday evening, at the end of Campus Pride Week 2025, »QueerYMR« hosted a »Queer Evening at M18«. In addition to delicious food from the KüfA (Kitchen for All), there were craft activities and music.