43rd Christopher Street Day
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35,000 people roam Europe’s “rainbow capital” Berlin
In Berlin, several thousand people move through the city for Christopher Street Day. Governing Mayor Müller calls Berlin the “rainbow capital of Europe” – and warns not to lose sight of discrimination.
In Berlin, several thousand people gathered in colorful clothes for the 43rd Christopher Street Day. Shortly after the demonstration began at 1 p.m., around 35,000 people had gathered in Mitte, as a police spokesman said rbb | 24. The organizers had registered 20,000 participants in advance. Should the police assembly authority confirm the number of participants on Monday, the CSD would be the largest demonstration in Berlin since the beginning of the corona pandemic.
The demonstration march started from Leipziger Strasse in the early Saturday afternoon, initially in the direction of Potsdamer Platz. The route goes past the Brandenburg Gate in the direction of the Victory Column and should end at the Urania in Berlin-Schöneberg.
Despite the alcohol ban and strict safety requirements due to the corona pandemic, people celebrated and danced to techno bass from several trucks on Saturday and demonstrated for the rights of sexual minorities. Among those taking part was Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left). In between, the organizers and the police repeatedly appealed to the participants to comply with the corona rules. rbb reporters at the event also reported that not all of the demonstrators wore masks, and that the distance rules were often not observed.
Müller: Berlin is the rainbow capital of Europe
“Due to the pandemic, this year’s demonstration will focus on an almost pure demo with the character of a protest march,” the organizers had previously announced. The demonstrators did not let the party mood drive them away. But they also had posters with them, it said something “Free Britney” (based on a photo by Breitney Spears) or “Allah loves Equality”.
The governing mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller (SPD), had already called for solidarity with persecuted gays, lesbians and transgender in the morning. Today’s Berlin is “cosmopolitan and liberal”, but anti-gay thinking and behavior is also a problem in the “rainbow capital of Europe”, explained Müller. “We have to oppose this together.”
CSD back on Berlin’s streets after a year break
In many other countries around the world, the situation for the LGBT community is much more difficult than here, even in Europe, continued Müller. Therefore, thought should also be given to those people who, in their commitment to equality and respect, “have to accept being ostracized, persecuted or imprisoned”.
Christopher Street Day will take place in Berlin for the 43rd time on Saturday – after being relocated to the Internet last year due to the pandemic, it is now back on the streets of the capital.
The Pride Parade goes back to the events in New York at the end of June 1969: police officers stormed the gay bar “Stonewall Inn” on Christopher Street in Manhattan and sparked an uprising by gays, lesbians and transsexuals against arbitrary controls and harassment.
Broadcast: evening show, July 24th, 2021, 7.30 p.m.