Frankfurt’s Pride Celebrations Engage Drag Queens and Catholic Ministers

In Frankfurt, Germany, the beginning of Pride month is celebrated by drag queens and Catholic ministers alike. 

In a reflection for Katholisch.de, Madita Steiner juxtaposes the different ways that various community members in the neighborhood around Sankt Georgen, a Jesuit university in Frankfurt are preparing for Pride celebrations. While members of the LGBTQ+ community are celebrating their God-given uniqueness and the strength and resilience of their communities, in a similar way Catholic allies and supporters are celebrating the diversity of God’s creation and stepping up to respond to the call for mercy, love, and justice. 

Jazz Cortes

For example, drag queens like Jazz Cortes and Giselle Hipps have been performing at shows which serve to gather the LGBTQ+ community together. For Jazz and Giselle, the “glamor and glitter” of their drag personas highlight deeper spiritual realities manifested in authenticity, community, and joy. Giselle describes her drag colleagues as her “chosen family:” as those who see and support her without reservation. Phiphi Cumfort, another drag queen, describes drag as therapy: In drag, she says, “I express myself as I am authentic[ally].” 

For these performers, drag represents joy, exploration, and celebration, even in the face of pain and uncertainty. It is a way to celebrate being fully alive. 

Just kilometers away from where these drag queens perform, Jesuit and professor Ansgar Wucherpfennig honors such celebrations of humanity by placing the interests and needs of the queer community at the center of his work at Sankt Georgen. 

Rev. Ansgar Wucherpfennig

Dedicated to advocating for the rights of gay people and women in the Church, Wucherpfennig served as Rector of the College for six years, over the course of which he says he “has experienced great support from the church” for his LGBTQ+ outreach. Despite initially being excluded from being the Rector by the Vatican, the decision was reversed, andWucherpfennig has found support from his university community. Across the spectrum of conservative and progressive Catholics, he reports finding a great tolerance for queer individuals. While this support is not universal, he notes that “conflicts are helpful,” in the sense that they can lead to dialogue. 

On a personal level, his commitment to advocating for the rights of gay Catholics began with personal encounter. In one case, he accompanied a close friend who was gay and working through his  love for ecclesial traditions and the pain of feeling excluded.. Wucherpfennig said he was “inspired” by a queer woman he knew who so easily lived her authentic self. 

Wucherpfennig reports that many queer people are in need of pastoral care and conversations which delve into the spiritual journey of coming to know and understand one’s own identities. While he acknowledges that anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes are still present and sometimes seem to be growing both in the Church and broader society, he maintains that dialogue and encounter–which call forth vulnerability and a willingness to listen–can help to reduce fear and misunderstanding. 

Sometimes, this encounter can begin even without words. As demonstrated by Wucherpfennig’s example, transformation can begin when we see queer people, like drag artists on stage or a happy couple at a Pride parade, living unashamedly as their full, queer selves, demonstrating that wholeness, joy, and love can be found within their lives, identities, and experiences. 

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, June 5, 2025