More than a million people celebrated Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Cologne on Sunday in sweltering heat. Music floats and foot groups slowly made their way through the city center in the parade. With almost 230 groups and around 60,000 participants, the CSD demonstration was longer than ever, according to the organizers. As in 2022, more than a million spectators came, including the street festival that started on Friday, 1.4 million people attended the CSD weekend.
At the parade, many of the crowded spectators wore accessories in rainbow colors: ribbons, bags, socks – but at temperatures of 35 degrees, fans and sun hats were also common. “Take care of each other, seek shade, drink enough,” appealed to the visitors, Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD), also wearing a rainbow hat and chain. Towards evening, the stage program on the Heumarkt was interrupted due to a thunderstorm warning.
The Cologne CSD is one of the largest events for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) community in Europe. In Germany, only the CSD in Berlin, which takes place on July 22nd this year, is of a similar size.
Serious concern
Behind the spectacle is a serious concern: the queer community wants to fly the flag and stand up for equality. “We have already achieved a lot, but we are not there yet,” said Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) in Cologne. There is still a lot to be done in the fight for equal rights and against queer hostility. The motto of the event was: “For human rights. Many. Together. Strong”.
The participating groups included clubs, organizations, companies, authorities and political parties. For example, the “Initiative Buntes Handwerk”, with craftsmen from all over Germany in their guild clothing, was there for the first time. Also for the first time, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland was represented with a group – in black clothes with colorful halo crowns. “Jesus: For more than 2000 years for equality” it said on a sign. “We want to show that faith and being queer are not mutually exclusive,” said Pastor Tim Lahr of the Queer Church in Cologne. Catholic youth organizations also posted banners calling for a church in which discrimination has no place.
In many places, the CSD is reminiscent of events in New York in 1969: At that time, police officers stormed the “Stonewall Inn” bar on Christopher Street and broke up a multi-day uprising by gays, lesbians and transsexuals.
