Massive rainbow flag placed at Reichstag by activists ahead of Pride
The flag, organizers say, measures 400 square metres, nearly the size of a basketball court. They held a demonstration including speeches and music with numerous attendees waving rainbow flags.
The decision against hoisting the flag for the celebration of Christopher Street Day (CSD) as Pride is known in Germany, was made by Bundestag President Julia Klöckner. Chancellor Friedrich Merz defended the Bundestag's decision, saying, "The Bundestag is not a circus tent."
In a related protest, the Social Democrats (SPD), the junior partner in the conservative-led governing coalition, hoisted a flag in front of the Willy-Brandt-Haus, the party's headquarters in Berlin.
SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf, along with Carola Ebhardt and Oliver Strotzer, the federal chairpersons of the SPDqueer working group, raised the Progressive Pride Flag for CSD.
The flag is an evolution of the classic rainbow flag, incorporating additional colours to represent trans people and queer people of colour.
The term Christopher Street Day is used in Germany to refer to Pride celebrations for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities.
It is a reference to the location of the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village neighbourhood, where a protest against police discrimination on June 28, 1969, kick-started the gay liberation movement.
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