Protest in church garb: Catholic priest runs along with Munich CSD

Thousands of people celebrate Christopher Street Day in German cities at the weekend and stand up for the rights of queer people.

Protest in church garb: Catholic priest runs along with Munich CSD

Thousands of people celebrate Christopher Street Day in German cities at the weekend and stand up for the rights of queer people. In Munich, among the 25,000 participants, there is also a Catholic priest who “unreservedly shares the goals of the CSD”.

The Catholic clergyman Wolfgang Rothe flew the flag at Christopher Street Day in Munich: Wearing black trousers, a black shirt, a white priest's collar and a rainbow flag, Rothe walked along in the CSD's political parade on Saturday, in which around 140 groups took part with elaborately decorated floats. There were also parades for more respect on Saturday in Leipzig (around 20,000 participants), Frankfurt am Main (13,500 participants) and Rostock (10,000 participants). In Berlin, the celebrations around the CSD in Berlin began next weekend with the lesbian and gay street festival in Berlin-Schoeneberg.

Christopher Street Day takes place every year in many cities around the world and commemorates the events of June 28, 1969: at that time, police officers stormed the New York gay and lesbian bar "Stonewall Inn" on Christopher Street, triggering multi-day protests by gays, lesbians and transsexuals. The CSD is intended to remind people of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex, asexual, transgender and queer people. "For my part, I would like to ask for forgiveness for what was done to queer people in our church," said Rothe, who is parish vicar in a Munich parish, before moving to the Bavarian capital. "I fully share the goals of the CSD".

According to the police, more than 25,000 people marched through Munich during the parade in pleasant summer temperatures, many in colorful, imaginative costumes. The openly gay vicar Rothe wanted to set an example with his participation for the first time. In 2021, he blessed homosexual couples in a Catholic service, against the wishes of the Vatican. Earlier this year he published the book "Wanted. Loved. Blessed." about Catholic queerness.

A lot is happening now: In January, 125 queer church employees came out and protested under the motto