In the past, many impressive personalities have been honored with the Pride Award. In 2021, a public figure will receive this award. Georgine Kellermann is a permanent fixture at WDR. She has been working at Westdeutscher Rundfunk for about 40 years. However, her outing as a transsexual was not all that long ago. It was only two years ago that she informed her environment about her sexual orientation, or rather about not having been born in the right body.
What is the Pride Award all about?
The Pride Award is presented by the Hamburg Pride association. During the award ceremony on Saturday, the CSD weeks in Hamburg will also be opened.
The presentation to the journalist is a novelty in the sense that in the past no public figures were honored with the award. Now a slightly different focus is to be placed by emphasizing the well-known people even more as role models for other queers.
However, this does not mean that other aspects would take a back seat. On the contrary! The weekend event will also honor those who volunteer for the rights of the community.
Who is Georgine Kellermann actually?
As already mentioned, Georgine Kellermann has long been one of those who actively shape the programming of Westdeutscher Rundfunk. About two years ago, her profile increased massively when she outed herself as trans.
After all, until then she had always been in front of the camera as a man and, at more than 60 years old, was actually not at the age at which many would expect an outing of this kind.
However, she must not have regretted the decision to take this step in any way. Even after her statement, she was able to continue her career at "her" station without any problems. Both in front of and behind the camera, she continued to carry out her profession and created - among other things, of course, also within the LGBTQ scene - a broad fan base.
The implications of "late outings
As already mentioned, certainly few people had expected Georgine Kellermann to come out. Instead, society usually assumes that a person in their early 60s is certainly where they wanted to be. A word that is used again and again in this context is the famous "arrived". However, Georgine Kellermann's courageous step proves that she did not want to settle for the current status quo.
The statement by the public broadcaster WDR that it would treat her the same after her outing as before and continue to give her responsibility in a managerial position also shows that the fear of a career setback is unfounded in most cases. Accordingly, Kellermann may have benefited in more ways than one. In the end, however, her most satisfying success is surely that she is allowed to be exactly the person she is after more than six decades.
Possibly in this way Kellermann also became a role model for "the older generation" and for people who are concerned with similar thoughts?
More details about the Pride Award 2021
The Pride Award is presented during Pride Night and at the opening of the CSD Weeks in Hamburg. This year, the Hanseatic city celebrates Christopher Street Day for the 40th time. Actually, it would have been last year, but the CSD 2020 had to be cancelled due to the current Corona situation. The spectators can expect a colorful mix of music, important messages and a - certainly - unforgettable award ceremony, in the context of which special commitment is appreciated on different levels.
Who wants to be there quasi live, can next Saturday at 8 pm on the YouTube channel of Hamburg Pride e. V. vorbeischauen. Here the event will be broadcast.
Jochen Schropp also helps in the fight against queer hostility on TV!