Protest of the LGBTIQ * scene: Thousands join the CSD star demo in Berlin

On the occasion of the Christopher Street Day in Berlin on Saturday, thousands of people demonstrated for equal rights for gays, lesbians and other sexual minorities.

The star demo started from three starting points in the direction of Alexanderplatz: from Oranienplatz in Kreuzberg, from Hermannplatz in Neukölln and from the Gethsemane Church in Prenzlauer Berg.

Many participants had rainbow flags with them, some were disguised. Most of them wore mouth and nose protection because of the corona pandemic. The motto of the events with 9,500 registered participants was “CSD Berlin Pride”. The police spoke of a number of participants in the mid four-digit range.

Each train had its own focus, as the organizers announced. It was about feminist issues, racism, trans and intersexuality as well as the lesbian and gay movement in the GDR. “The Stern Pride demo should offer everyone the opportunity to show their differences together.” There should also be no joint final rally.

During the demonstration, which started at Hermannplatz in Neukölln, loud music could be heard from a loudspeaker truck. The banners read “Queerschutz now” and “No sex with Nazis”. Some men and women walked in police uniforms, others had colored hair or bare chests, danced in the sunshine and drank champagne. Some criticized the discrimination against homosexuals in Hungary or turned against capitalism. In addition to the traditional rainbow flags, pink flags with a white unicorn were also on display.

At the start of the “East Pride” train through northeast Berlin, the Protestant
Gethsemanekirche in the Prenzlauer Berg district a church service is celebrated. Parts of the homosexual scene in the GDR had found space there. On Saturday there was an image of a Madonna with a halo in rainbow colors in the service near the altar, after which she was carried to the “Pride” star march.

The bishop of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Christian Stäblein, called for respect for homosexuality inside and outside the church. In the Christian creed, the sentence “homophobia is sin” must be substituted for the sentence “homosexuality is sin”, said Stäblein in his sermon. At the same time, the bishop called for support for discriminated “same-sex and different lovers”, “whether in Hungary or in Russia or wherever”.

The event was announced by the organizers as a conscious alternative to the classic Berlin CSD with the big party parade. “We say goodbye to the idea that an institution has the monopoly on organizing a CSD Pride demonstration,” it said.

Last year, large parades were canceled due to the corona pandemic. In previous years, the CSD had lured hundreds of thousands onto the streets as a colorful parade. This year it is to be held on July 24th as a political demo. Under the motto “Save our community – save our pride”, the participants are expected to move from Kino International in Karl-Marx-Allee to Nollendorfplatz – largely without the parade trucks that were common in previous years.

Every year there are numerous events related to Christopher Street Day, which is a reminder of how homosexuals and transsexuals first defended themselves against police arbitrariness more than 50 years ago: At the end of June 1969, police officers stormed the “Stonewall Inn” bar on Christopher Street in New York and sparked a riot.

In New York it is traditionally remembered on the last Saturday in June, Christopher Street Liberation Day, with a street parade. This has become an international tradition – once a summer there is a demonstration for LGBTIQ * rights.

Broadcast: evening show, June 26th, 2021, 7:30 p.m.