Half a million people are expected at this year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade in Berlin on Saturday. According to information on Thursday, the organizing club registered that many participants with the Berlin assembly authority. "We hope that so many will come and we are happy about everyone who comes spontaneously," the CSD association continued.
The motto of this year's demonstration for the rights and recognition of the queer community is "United in Love - Against Hate, War and Discrimination". The demonstration begins at 12 p.m. near Potsdamer Platz and is scheduled to end in front of the Brandenburg Gate after a distance of more than seven kilometers in the evening. The opening speech is held by Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer (left) on behalf of the Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD), who tested positive for the corona virus.
According to the police, around 35,000 people took part last year, and the organizers spoke of more than 80,000 participants. Before the CSD 2020 was canceled due to corona, around one million participants and visitors were counted in 2019.
On June 28, 1969, the police stormed the Stonewall Inn gay bar on New York's Christopher Street. Days of heavy clashes between activists and security forces followed. The uprising is considered the birth of the modern LGBTQIA movement. In the meantime, the CSD is celebrated annually in numerous countries around the world, in Berlin for the 44th time.
