Latest news with #ChristopherStreetDay
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
BERLIN -- Tens of thousands of people danced to techno beats across Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the German capital's Pride parade, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe. With rainbow flags and bottles of beer, the city partied under overcast skies, an upgrade after days of downpours, to observe and honor Christopher Street Day. 'We need to represent pride is unity, pride is friendship, pride is love and we need to make sure that everybody knows that we were here in peace and in love to make it a better day for everybody,' said Jessica Benitaz, from Miami. The annual parade commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York when a spontaneous street uprising was triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar, on Christopher Street, in Greenwich Village. Berlin's parade took revelers past the iconic Brandenburg Gate and through the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood, home to the city's gay culture as well as a memorial to the queer people who were persecuted and killed by the Nazi regime. The city's first Christopher Street Day was held on June 30, 1979, in West Berlin. Thomas Hoffmann, a member of the CSD Executive Board, thought the 2025 crowd was bigger than in past years. 'We want to stand up for our rights together here,' Hoffmann said. German news agency dpa reported that a right-wing counter-demonstration featured 30 to 50 protesters. Six people, including the protest's organizer, were arrested on their way to the demonstration for alleged weapons and explosives violations as well as for displaying anti-constitutional symbols, dpa reported.
Local Germany
4 days ago
- Politics
- Local Germany
IN PICTURES: Hundreds of thousands march at Berlin Pride demonstration
Around 80 floats and more than 100 groups took part in the march to Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Saturday. "The demonstration was as large and political as it has been for a long time," the organisers said. Among those who spoke at the opening of the event was Vice President of the Bundestag, Josephine Ortleb. She told AFP that it was a great honour for her: "especially in these times, we simply cannot be neutral when it comes to defending human rights," she said, adding that the queer community was coming under increasing pressure, even in Germany. CSD parade participants, many sporting rainbow flags, take to the streets of Berlin on July 26, 2025 . (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) Thomas Hoffmann, a member of the board of the CSD Berlin association, told AFP that it was especially important now "to take to the streets again with vigour and set an example for freedom, tolerance, and equality." Advertisement For the first time in the history of queer rights, "we are not fighting for new rights, but to defend existing rights," he added. According to authorities, anti-queer crimes have been on the rise for years. A participant of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade poses. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) No flag at the Bundestag A 2024 report from the Criminal Police Office and the Ministry of the Interior showed that the number of crimes in the area of "sexual orientation" and "gender diversity" had increased almost tenfold since 2010, although this was in part due to increasing visibility and willingness to report offences. Advertisement The rally commemorates June 28, 1969, when police stormed the Stonewall Inn gay bar on New York's Christopher Street, sparking days of clashes between activists and security forces. The uprising is considered the birth of the modern Pride movement. A participant of the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade holds a poster reading "Show your colours, Mr Merz - don't duck away". Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) But unlike in previous years, no rainbow flag flew on the German Bundestag building as Bundestag President Julia Klöckner had decided not to raise it. "For me, the rainbow flag stands for solidarity, acceptance, but also human rights for all. And for me, these are also the values that the German Bundestag stands for," Vice President Ortleb told AFP. To protest Klöckner's decision, activists unfurled a 400-square-metre flag on the lawn in front of the Bundestag late Friday afternoon. Two CSD parade participants share a kiss. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP) Counter protest According to AFP reporters, only around two dozen people participated in a right-wing extremist counter-demonstration against the parade. The person who registered the rally was arrested, a police spokeswoman said. In a preliminary report early Sunday morning, the police announced that a total of 64 arrests had been made at the parade. These included participants in the counter-demonstration as well as those associated with the parade itself, a police spokeswoman told AFP without giving specific numbers. As many as 1,300 police officers were on the scene that day and three sustained injuries, according to reports. A queer pro-Palestinian demonstration also took place on Saturday. Some 10,000 participants marched through Berlin-Kreuzberg, but the protest was broken up by police after officers were attacked and anti-Semitic slogans shouted. According to reports, 17 police officers were injured, and 57 were arrested.
DW
4 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Berlin Pride marchers warn of growing homophobia – DW – 07/26/2025
In Berlin, tens of thousands of people celebrated Christopher Street Day, the German capital's annual Pride parade. This year's event was overshadowed by Germany's new conservative government deciding not to raise the rainbow flag over the parliament building.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of people danced to techno beats across Berlin on Saturday to celebrate the city's Pride parade, one of the largest LGBTQ+ celebrations in Europe. With rainbow flags and bottles of beer, Germany's capital city partied under overcast skies, an upgrade after days of downpours, to observe and honor Christopher Street Day. The annual Christopher Street Day parade commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion in New York, a spontaneous street uprising triggered by a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Berlin's parade took revelers past the iconic Brandenburg Gate and through the Nollendorfplatz neighborhood, home to the city's gay culture as well as a memorial to the queer people who were persecuted and killed in Nazi Germany. The city's first Christopher Street Day occurred on June 30, 1979, in West Berlin.
Toronto Star
5 days ago
- General
- Toronto Star
Berlin celebrates Pride parade with techno beats and rainbow flags
Participants in the 47th Berlin Pride, the Christopher Street Day (CSD) demonstration, gather before the start of the parade, in Berlin, Saturday, July 26, 2025. (Casten Koall/dpa va AP) sab flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: : sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false :
