ABSTRACT
The chapter discusses which forms of life are eligible for legal legitimacy and which are not. The reproduction of individual and collective bodies is an interlinked and well-regulated public good. At the same time, the wrongly presupposed lack of generativity is a central argument against the validity of LGBTIQ+ life plans and relationships in the sphere of the Catholic church, many other religious communities and the state. At this point, the text introduces some insightful examples of how epistemic violence in the legislature, historically linked to conservative Christian beliefs, operates the discourse and practices of reproduction and presumed “family values”. The analysis unveils epistemic violence that essentialises hierarchies in the formation of legal subjects. Continuing the argument, biopolitics and homonationalism are discussed, especially with regard to the role of religion in the regulation of life and birth.
A historical outline is given of the homophobic biopolitics and conservative Christian discourses in different epochs, institutions and rationalities form the background for the discussion of a current problematic situation: the current constraints of state and church with regard to queer life forms and rainbow children. A constructive example is given of alternative groups of support and acknowledgement of queer parents and their children in Berlin. The rainbow children groups respect various forms of caring and family constellations, relationships, beliefs, nationalities, families with disabilities and different political orientations. These groups turn a difficult emergency into a creative process in which grassroots networks and support groups materialise new family alliances and new knowledge about concepts of family, kinship and care.
