Thorsten Höller (46) , initiator of the Team Disabled in Queer Cities eV (TBiQC), presents 938 euros to the Bremerhaven Pride Festival , which the Team Disabled raised through the sale of Bremerhaven Pride wristbands for the Bremerhaven Pride Festival in its Pride Merchandise Shop . "I'm proud that we disabled people are also contributing 938 euros to the Bremerhaven Pride Festival ," Thorsten Höller said, adding, "It feels good not only because I'm from Bremerhaven, but also because we're raising a nice sum to ensure that there's a Pride Festival in Bremerhaven."
Why is the Disabled People at Queer Cities team looking for collaborations?
Höller is not only a current employee of the Elbe-Weser Welten facility for people with disabilities in Bremerhaven, but also a founder of the TBIQC (Teaching and Learning Center for Diversity). Together, people with and without disabilities are working with rainbow organizations, such as Aids Hilfe Bremen eV, to provide access to the LGBTIQ* labor market for queer people with disabilities.
Why is it difficult for rainbow organizations to employ people with disabilities?
Rainbow organizations in particular are generally poorly funded, and every euro that flows into these important queer institutions is urgently needed to maintain their range of services. In most cases, the services offered are smaller than the institutions would like, so prudent budgeting is necessary to be able to create more. This is often the small problem of money. The institutions are thus faced with a dilemma: either invest the remaining capacity and resources for their own purposes or create an inclusive workplace and supervise or support a person with (mental) disability in carrying out their work.
A first possible solution that all under the rainbow?
Our TBiQC is aware of this dilemma and is trying to create opportunities through collaborations. It is important that the capacities and resources of queer organizations continue to be used for queer issues while simultaneously allowing people with (mental) disabilities to participate in this work.
For example, the Disabled People Team at Queer Cities is pursuing the idea of setting up a rainbow online shop where people with and without disabilities can jointly sell rainbow items for other organizations. This idea has already been implemented in a pilot phase this year and is currently being tested, with the current goal of transferring Thorsten Höller from the disabled workshop to the primary and rainbow job market on a full-time basis (according to the TVÖD) at the end of January. The Disabled People Team is also working closely with other partners, such as Go Bäng!, and aims to learn and thus make the project a success.