Despite Corona
“Pride Berlin” sets an example against discrimination
–
Christopher Street Day has been canceled. Instead, thousands of gays and lesbians meet in Berlin for a pride demo.
–
–
—
Berlin. With temperatures around 30 degrees and under corona conditions, thousands of gays, lesbians and allies moved through Berlin on Saturday afternoon at the “Pride Berlin” demo. “There were an estimated 3,500 people at the top,” said a police spokeswoman. Only 1000 people were registered from the organizers.
Under the motto “Pride Berlin: Save our Community, Save our Pride” the participants moved with posters, rainbow flags and music from Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg via Potsdamer Platz to Alexanderplatz. The event ended there in the afternoon, “without major incidents,” as the police spokeswoman said. The corona rules such as distance from each other and wearing a mouth and nose cover were largely adhered to.
There was an exuberant mood, some participants danced to electronic music or classic disco pieces. Despite the Christopher Street Day (CSD) in the capital, which was canceled on July 25 and would otherwise attract hundreds of thousands, the scene wanted to set a smaller sign against the discrimination of lesbians and gays as part of the Global Pride Day scheduled for Saturday.
“Pride Berlin”: set an example against persecution, discrimination and violence
“It is important to us to demonstrate for people who are persecuted and discriminated against worldwide and who suffer violence,” said one participant. He was carrying a poster that read “We want Liberation & Equality & Justice” (We want liberation, equality and justice). In Germany, there has been great progress in dealing with lesbians and gays in recent years, unlike in Poland or Russia, where there is a need to catch up.
Other participants showed posters with slogans such as “No freedom until we are all equal” or “Black trans lives matter” as support for the anti-racism movement “Black Lives Matter” met at the same time in the zoo. There were also individual posters to be seen, which in turn related to the Pride.
“Pride Berlin”: demo not resolved prematurely
The replacement demonstration for the CSD parade had ended regularly at its official end point on Alexanderplatz in the early Saturday afternoon. In the meantime it had been said that the demo at Hackescher Markt had to be dissolved because the organizer could no longer enforce the corona distance rules. That was not confirmed.
The head of the train had reached Alexanderplatz around 2 p.m. The police pointed out once again that the minimum distance had been observed.
The demonstrators started their train at noon at Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg. Then they moved across Potsdamer Platz towards Alexanderplatz. The official CSD parade with tens of thousands of demonstrators, various party cars and hundreds of thousands of spectators had been canceled due to the corona pandemic. The Christopher Street Days annually commemorate events in New York at the end of June 1969: At that time, police officers stormed the “Stonewall Inn” bar in Christopher Street in Manhattan and triggered a multi-day uprising by gays, lesbians and transsexuals against the arbitrariness.
Organizers and police point out corona rules
Before the demo started, the organizers warned that the corona requirements such as the one-and-a-half meter distance requirement and the wearing of a mouth-nose guard were to be observed. The police also tweeted: “Don’t just think about sunscreen, sunglasses & lots of water, but please keep enough distance from others.”
Some demonstrators carried rainbow flags and a banner read: “No freedom until we are all equal”.
„Save our community, save our pride. Stoppt sexuelle Apartheid“, the Pride organizers asked on Facebook. The focus of the demands is therefore on the situation of gays, lesbians and transsexuals in Poland, Russia and Ukraine as well as “the dramatic situation of the Berlin scene / community”.
Fewer participants in anti-racism rally than expected
A rally against racism at the Great Star also took place on Saturday. 1500 participants were registered for the event at the Großer Stern in Tiergarten under the motto “Black Lives Matter”. At noon, however, far fewer than 1,000 people had gathered, as the police told Berliner Morgenpost. Around 750 officers were deployed in both demonstrations.
Previously, it was assumed that significantly more participants would come. Several thousand people had registered for the rally on the Internet. At the beginning of June, 15,000 people gathered in Alexanderplatz because of the killing of the African American George Floyd by a police officer in the USA. The corona distance rules were not observed.
At this rally, the organizers and the police also indicated compliance with the hygiene rules.
Traffic congestion in the entire inner city area
The BVG and the traffic information center (VIZ) announced that traffic congestion can be expected throughout the city. Bus routes have been rerouted. More information from BVG can be found on Twitter.
Another car parade against the corona rules announced
On Saturday afternoon there will also be a car parade against the corona rules across the city, and from 3 p.m. a hiphop festival in the Parkaue in Lichtenberg with 1,000 registered participants, as a police spokeswoman said.
All news about the corona virus in Berlin, Germany and the world: The most important We have questions and answers about the corona virus in Berlin here compiled for you. In our Newsblog we report on the current corona developments in Berlin and Brandenburg. The You can read national and international corona virus news here. We also show in one interactive map of how the corona virus is in Berlin, Germany, Europe and the world spreads. All other important information about the corona virus get here. The actual You can find the utilization of intensive care units in Germany in our clinic monitor.
– .
