In this episode, we speak with Ras, a founding member of truecolours and the ballroom community in Leipzig, about the local scene. How did the ballroom scene in Leipzig originate? What are the essential elements and categories of the ballroom scene here? What defines ballroom, and how do crises affect the development of the scene and its members? We discuss appropriation, cultural work, and the significance of physical spaces for queer and trans BIPoC people—especially in East Germany, where Leipzig is the only city with a ballroom scene.
The vision focuses on Dean Spade's ideas and tools for dealing with conflict in groups.
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Interview
Breed
@truecolours______
at.true.colours@gmail.com
Vision
Dean Spade has worked for two decades for queer and trans* liberation based on economic justice and racial justice for those discriminated against. He is an author, activist, and professor at Seattle University School of Law.
Podcast “Love in a F*cked up World” : The podcast with Dean Spade shows us tools and gives us ideas on how we can build strong relationships and social movements – because our resistance movements consist of relationships and are only as strong as they are.
Resources and (term) explanations
YouTube channel with information about balls in Germany
Online exhibition created by ballroom historians
Principles of Voguing: A guide to Ballroom Categories (iHeart Berlin on categories in the German ballroom scene)
RosaLinde: RosaLinde Leipzig eV has existed since 1990 and, through various projects, has been actively advocating for the interests of LGBTQ* people in Leipzig and the districts of Leipzig, North and Central Saxony for more than 30 years.
CEAS: Decided by the European Parliament in April 2024, the reform of the "Common European Asylum System" (CEAS) came into force in Germany and across the EU on June 12, 2026. The reform makes it even more difficult for refugees to obtain protection – among other things, due to detention of up to 12 weeks after entry under prison-like conditions, screening procedures of up to 7 days for those entering without documents, and the deportation and rejection of asylum seekers to so-called "first countries of asylum" or so-called "safe countries of origin".
Music
Rihanna: Work
Scott Holmes Music: Positive and Fun https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/
Tim Taj: Upbeat Happy https://freemusicarchive.org/music/timtaj/positive-corporate-music/upbeat-happy/
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Funded by the Anstiftung, the Foundation for Human Dignity and the Working World and the Otto Brenner Foundation.
© 2026. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC 4.0 DEED
