Georg Uecker Fights Back Tears at Order Award Ceremony

A special and moving day in Düsseldorf: For their commitment to LGBTQ rights and queer visibility, on Tuesday 15 celebrities and activists were awarded the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The honors were personally presented by Minister-President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) during a formal ceremony.

Among the laureates were “Lindenstraße” star Georg Uecker, his colleague Claus Vinçon, and series creator Hans W. Geißendörfer, who sent his daughter Hana to Düsseldorf. The ARD series helped shape German television for decades and early on tackled societal issues such as homosexuality, AIDS, and discrimination. A milestone was the first gay kiss in a German primetime soap in 1990, in which Uecker played a role.

Highest honor of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia

For Georg Uecker, visibly moved and fighting back tears on stage as he received the order, the award marked a return to the public spotlight after a lengthy period shaped by health issues. The openly gay actor, who has lived with HIV since the early 1990s and has survived a serious cancer, spoke with pride and gratitude after the ceremony. He had told an interview earlier that he is doing “very well” today. The award represents, he said, a great acknowledgment of his long-standing commitment. The award is the highest honor of NRW. In addition to Uecker, Vinçon, and Geißendörfer, twelve other individuals were honored for their exceptional contributions to LGBTQ rights and visibility. Among them was Green politician Volker Beck, known as the “father of marriage equality.” In his laudatory remarks, Hendrik Wüst recalled Beck’s near-assassination attempt. “That shows, in a deeply troubling way, that the fight for human dignity, freedom, and social cohesion still requires courage today,” said the prime minister. “You did not let yourselves be intimidated. You have demonstrated civil courage for years. You advocate for a free society. For this you deserve great respect and thanks.”

Also many activists honored

In addition, the awards went to moderator Ralph Morgenstern, lesbian singer-songwriter Carolina Brauckmann, moderator and author Ricarda Hofmann, Peter Hölscher (Project LGBTQI+-Inclusive), Heike Kivelitz (Leslie e.V.), Reinhard Klenke (Co-founder Aidshilfe Paderborn), Jochen Saurenbach (Aidshilfe Köln), Reinhard Schmidt (LSBTIQ+-Forum Düsseldorf), Steffen Schwab (Queer Network NRW), as well as pharmacist Erik Tenberken and Marcus Velke-Schmidt (Centrum Schwule Geschichte e.V.).

Minister-President Hendrik Wüst lauded the 15 laureates in a speech as “role models, to whom our deepest thanks and our highest recognition are due.” The honorees are described as working toward “a respectful, open and nondiscriminatory togetherness in North Rhine-Westphalia” and thereby contribute to “visibility and participation and push societal debates forward,” the CDU politician emphasized. “In doing so they help ensure that a wide range of life experiences naturally have a place in our society. With clear resolve and strong personal commitment, they strengthen social cohesion and demonstrate how essential respect, equality, and mutual recognition are to our shared life.”