Berklin Lesbians Inaugurate Lone Cemetery

Safia association, a national group primarily for elderly lesbians in Berlin, German capital, has announced plans to inaugurate a separate cemetery for its members on Sunday, April 6. Usah Zachau, spokeswoman for the Safia association told the AP news agency on Tuesday that a 400-square-meter (4,300-square-foot) area of the Lutheran Georgen Parochial cemetery, established in 1814 in central Berlin, has been earmarked as a graveyard for up to 80 lesbians in Berlin.

As Zachau explained, there is a reason for this separate cemetery. She said it is meant to be a space “where life and death connect, distinctive forms of cemetery culture can develop and where the lesbian community can live together in the afterlife,” she said.

The association got the approval to use the cemetery for a 30-year period in exchange for cleaning and landscaping the area. The lesbians have also promised to be responsible for its upkeep. “We don’t have to pay any rent, but we had to invest a lot of money to turn that part of the cemetery into a usable burial ground again,” Zachau said.