Straight People Keep Off! World’s 1st Lesbian Only Cemetary Opens

A historic event happened in Berlin recently where dozens of elderly women gathered to celebrate the opening of the world’s first lesbian cemetary.The lesbian community in Berlin was given a 4,300-square-foot area in one of Germany’s oldest backgrounds, the Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery. At least 80 gay women are going to be buried there soon.                              

“Lots of us don’t have families to be buried with. Instead, we want to lie with those we’ve fought alongside, loved and lived with” explains Astrid  an elderly lesbian at the event.

Women present at the ceremony were members of SAFIA, a German association of older lesbians who are credited with coming up with the idea as a way for their community to stay together in the afterlife.

“We are the first real generation of emancipated, feminist, open lesbians, and we need somewhere to be buried,” explains Astrid Osterland, a 69-year-old SAFIA member.

For Berlin’s lesbians, the cemetery is more than just a final resting place. It holds political significance for them as the generation of women who fought for the right to love openly and who now want their cause to be visible for posterity. “Families want to be together after death, and we want it too”, Osterland concluded.