Read more  Trans woman, sex worker*, union activist and feminist, Cornelia Schneider is at the heart of many battles. From the corridors of the Council of Europe to the demonstrations of March 8, she has not given up in the face of oppression for more than 20 years. As a teenager in Germany in the 70s, it was during this very turbulent period that her political conscience was formed. In 1982, at the age of 20, she was studying in Strasbourg when she became aware of her trans identity*. Transgender activism… It would take her a few more years to decide to live her gender identity openly and actively engage in activism. In 2002, with Alexandra Augst-Merelle, she founded the collective Support Transgenre Strasbourg. Initially an information and mutual aid structure, the two founders quickly became aware of the need to give a more political dimension to their action.
“Alexandra and I quickly realized that healing the wounds caused by transphobia was good, but that tackling the problem at its root was more important.”
Thus, we will find Cornelia Schneider in the corridors of the Council of Europe, to bring the voice of trans people to the institution, but also for the organization of the International Transgender Day of Remembrance, on November 20 or even ensuring the training of health professionals on this theme.
Cornelia Schneider speaks at the March 8, 2023 demonstration in Strasbourg. (Photo: AL/Rue89) Her commitment to the rights of transgender people led her to take part in other fights: feminist, anti-racist, social. "At the time, we didn't use the term intersectional, but that was already the case in practice." She can thus be found in various feminist collectives over the past twenty years. Today, Cornelia Schneider is an activist within the Revolutionary Insurrectional and Feminist Bloc (BRIF). With a "fairly anarchist" conviction, the Strasbourg native believes in the strength of the collective:
"Individually, we cannot lead a political struggle. What matters to me is solidarity with others and being in solidarity means sharing the risks."
Cornelia Schneider thus participated in the creation of the Sex Work Union (STRASS) launched in 2009 in the wake of the law against passive solicitation. A sex worker herself, she was the organization's representative in Alsace until 2016 before leaving the union and joining the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) four years later.
"Even if there are only three of us organized, like the current TDS section of the CNT-STP 67, there are still three of us in a national confederation that has a serious history. That has a different weight than if it's just me speaking alone. I can explain, but I'm not representative."

An action led by sex workers on the sidelines of a Strasbourg city conference on pornography in November 2022. (Photo: AS/Rue89 Strasbourg) Having been involved in numerous struggles for twenty years, Cornelia Schneider acknowledges being “a bit of a part of the militant furniture in Strasbourg” and would like to pass the torch. The activist is also delighted with the scale that feminist struggles are now taking on in the European capital. “In 2014, there were about fifteen of us in front of the cathedral on March 8. This year, there were more than two thousand of us. Lots of young people, people outside the gender norm, unions! We have changed dimension and that is very good.” * see glossary
Cornelia Schneider, transgender woman, sex worker, feminist and union activist. (Photo: AL/Rue89) Intersectional: Intersectionality is a notion from the social sciences according to which a person experiencing different oppressions, for example a woman from an ethnic minority, is not only a victim of sexism and racism independently, but also the product of these two discriminations, thus creating a specific situation of exclusion. In activist spaces, intersectionality defines a global approach to the fight against oppression. For these activists, it is, for example, impossible to fight against sexism without also opposing racism. Transidentity: Transidentity describes the fact that a person has a gender identity different from the one assigned to them at birth. For example, a person whose physical characteristics would be those of a man, but whose feeling or expression of gender, in the sense of their social identity, would be feminine. Transgender identity or non-binarity (not identifying with any gender) is observed in light of the social norm of gender, which assumes that physical characteristics and gender identity are necessarily correlated. Sex workers or SSW: refers to people whose economic activity is to provide services of a sexual nature. The term SSW covers many activities including prostitution. Pornographic actors and actresses, camgirls and camboys, striptease, etc. are also concerned.
Jazzy Abstract Beat – Coma-Media TDOR 2021 – La nouvelle lune Demonstrations on the Kurfürstendamm, 1968 – RBB Media Broke For Free – As colorful as ever Cruxorium – Parasitic Satellite Feminist demonstration in Paris on March 7, 2022 – XY Media Stellardrone – To the great beyond Prostitutes’ demonstration against the criminalization of clients – AFP David Dellacroce – Blue digression Feminist demonstration in Paris on March 7, 2020 – Remy Buisine HoliznaCC0 – Light at the end of the tunnel 

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