At the 45th Christopher Street Day (CSD) it will be colorful and loud again in Berlin today. At noon, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) and Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) opened the event together.
“It’s a reason to celebrate that we’re here, that we’re diverse. But it’s also a demonstration for queer rights, for all people, that they can live the way they want in this country,” said Bas. That is not a matter of course. “We see that in other countries, where people are imprisoned, tortured, even killed.”
“For more empathy and solidarity!”
The organizers are expecting around 500,000 participants over the course of the day. At the beginning there was a rally on Leipziger Strasse in Berlin-Mitte. The demonstration train then leads on a 7.4-kilometer route through several Berlin districts to the Brandenburg Gate, where a stage program is planned that will last until late in the evening. The motto of the Berlin CSD this year is “Be their voice – and ours! For more empathy and solidarity!”
According to the organizers, there were 77 vehicles in the demonstration through Berlin, fewer than last year with almost 100. As in 2022, a Ukrainian truck will also be taking part in the demonstration train. In addition, around 100 foot groups from all over the world take part.
Queer Officer: CSD has broad steel power
According to the capital’s queer commissioner, Alfonso Pantisano (SPD), the Berlin CSD has significance far beyond the city. “I think that in Berlin, as the federal capital, we have a special focus,” he told the German Press Agency. “The CSD here has a radiance in other countries around the world.” At the same time, Berlin is the city where the worldwide homosexual movement was born. “I think it’s a special honor when we take to the streets here and also remember all those who have fought for years so that we can live our love, our desire and our lives freely today.”
Pantisano was only appointed “contact person for Queeres Berlin” by the Senate last Tuesday, but he has often been to the CSD. “It’s my 30th year going to a CSD. I usually go to several CSDs a year,” he said. “My very first CSD was in Cologne in 1993.” Six weeks later he had his coming out. “It was exactly this CSD where I understood that living in darkness is not a worthy life and that’s why I have to go into the light. That’s how I went about it.”
The Berlin CSD is one of the largest events of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer community in Europe. The participants want to take to the streets against discrimination against lesbians, gays or trans people and celebrate together at the same time.
