Ernst Ostertag and his partner Röbi Rapp registered their same-sex partnership in 2003.
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Listening: Swiss gay rights activist Ernst Ostertag turns 95
Ernst Ostertag is a pioneer in gay rights activism in Switzerland. In an interview with the SonntagsBlick newspaper on the occasion of his 95th birthday, the Zurich native explained what bothers him about the "woke" movement.
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Schwulenaktivist Ernst Ostertag feiert seinen 95. Geburtstag
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There is no secret to such a long life, said Ostertag. His genes are probably responsible for his old age. He celebrates his 95th birthday on Tuesday. The fact that he has avoided stress in his life can hardly be the reason for his longevity, he added. Together with his late partner Röbi Rapp, he began campaigning for gay rights in the 1950s. The film The Circle, released in 2014, tells the story of their activism.
Today Ostertag continues to hold strong opinions. The “woke” movement has gone overboard with its demands on how people ought to speak, he said: “And with the arrogant attitude that anyone who didn’t do this would be ‘cancelled’.” He has always fought against this because it is inhumane, he added.
In companies in the United States, the notion of gender has been erased, along with entire programmes for employees who love people of the same sex, he said. Of course there are non-binary people, said Ostertag: “But pushing politics on them harms this minority and, ultimately, all of us.”
Love affair for three
In 2003, Ostertag and Rapp became the first couple to register a same-sex partnership in canton Zurich. They remained a couple for 61 years. Rapp died in 2018. “It’s no longer the case that tears immediately stream down my face,” said Ostertag in the interview. “But I still feel like I’m only one half, somehow.”
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Röbi Rapp: Swiss gay rights icon has died
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Röbi Rapp, pictured here on the left, was a gay rights campaigner who became a household name in Switzerland, and has died at the age of 88.
For Ostertag, it was an “incredible gift” that he was able to experience love from his partner Giovanni. “Röbi and I had a three-way partnership with him for 15 years, and since his death it’s been just the two of us,” says the soon-to-be 95-year-old.
Adapted from German with DeepL/gw
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