Berlin CSD parade with 80 floats denounces rising anti-LGBTQ hate: 'We'll only get louder'
A two-day Christopher Street Day event culminates with a central Berlin parade and a Sarah Connor concert at Brandenburger Tor, while organisers warn of an increasingly hostile climate for queer people.
Parade and festivities
The 48th Berlin Christopher Street Day launched its main demonstration at midday on Saturday from Leipziger Straße. Around 80 floats rolled through Potsdamer Platz and Nollendorfplatz toward the Siegessäule, before the final rally at Brandenburger Tor. Singer Sarah Connor was scheduled to headline the evening closing concert. The two-day programme began on Friday evening.
- Two-day event begins with evening programme.
- Parade departs Leipziger Straße with around 80 floats.
- Parade passes Potsdamer Platz and Nollendorfplatz.
- Parade reaches the Victory Column.
- Final rally and concert by Sarah Connor.
Organisers bill the Berlin CSD as one of the largest in Europe.
A louder message
Under the motto "Haltung ist hot" (attitude is hot), the event aimed to counter a perceived backlash against LGBTQ+ rights. Thomas Hoffmann, a board member of the Berlin CSD association, told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur that queer people worldwide face growing pressure, with existing rights being rolled back and hate crime rising. He said the CSD was a deliberate response.
Queer people are under more pressure worldwide. We will not become smaller, but larger. We will not become quieter, but louder — until all people in Germany can live freely, safely and self-determinedly.
Rising hostility and counter-protest
Police anticipated a counter-demonstration from the far right on Saturday, with around 100 participants registered. Hoffmann described the emergence of organised opposition to CSD events as a concerning shift, noting that such protests never occurred at the Berlin event in the past. He pointed to 2024, when right-wing groups mobilised against CSD marches in Bautzen, Leipzig and other cities.
That is a development that should frighten not only our community, but all people.
He added that the organisers were not worried about Saturday's small counter-protest and were in close cooperation with Berlin police.
Remembering Stonewall
CSD events across Germany commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York, when police raided the Stonewall Inn bar on Christopher Street, triggering days of resistance by gay, lesbian and trans people. The Berlin event, now in its 48th year, draws tens of thousands of participants annually.
