Christopher Street Day in Berlin: With confetti and love against hate and war

A huge, colorful party, but at the same time a political demonstration: Christopher Street Day in Berlin began with a rain of confetti and a rally. The participants want to set an example: against hate, war and discrimination.

Colorful and loud as it hasn’t been for a long time in Berlin: The capital is all about Christopher Street Day. After two years of corona-related restrictions, a big party parade is taking place again for Christopher Street Day (CSD).

The event, for which the organizers expect up to 500,000 participants over the course of the day, started at noon with a rally and a shower of confetti on the Spittelmarkt in the Mitte district. The demonstration march that follows leads 7.4 kilometers through several Berlin districts to the Brandenburg Gate.

parties and politics

The Berlin CSD is one of the largest events of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer community in Europe. On the one hand, the participants take action against violence and discrimination. On the other hand, they want to have a mega party and just have fun. This is also expressed in the motto of the demonstration: It reads “United in love. Against hate, war and discrimination”.

The opening speech was held by Berlin’s deputy mayor, Klaus Lederer. “For all countries where queerness is still a punishable offense, where the death penalty is threatened, Berlin must be a city of freedom, Berlin must be a safe shelter, Berlin must be a safe haven,” said the left-wing politician. In his opening speech, Lederer spoke about the often still precarious situation of queer people in other countries, but also about discrimination in Berlin.

Berlin’s former governing mayor, Klaus Wowereit, complained about the ongoing discrimination against homosexuals even before the event began. “If you consider that in youth football you can still hear ‘you gay pig’ in the changing rooms, you know that there is still a lot to do,” he told the “Berliner Zeitung”. There is still a lot of educational work to be done, the ex-mayor emphasized on the occasion of the CSD. Wowereit came out as gay in 2001.

For the first time in the morning, the Bundestag hoisted the rainbow flag, which with its six colorful stripes is considered a symbol of the queer community.

Demonstration train bigger than ever

According to the organizers, 96 vehicles and at least 80 foot groups from all over the world are taking part in the demonstration – more than ever before at the CSD in Berlin, which is now in its 44th edition. Among them are people from Ukraine who have been exposed to the Russian war of aggression for the past five months.

Christopher Street Day is celebrated worldwide. The movement dates back to events in June 1969, when New York police officers stormed a bar on Christopher Street, sparking a riot by gay, lesbian and trans people.