Thuringia: Thousands celebrate Christopher Street Day in Erfurt

Thuringia
Thousands celebrate Christopher Street Day in Erfurt

08.09.2024, 11:12 a.m.

Thousands came to Christopher Street Day in the Thuringian capital in midsummer temperatures. The organizers see this as a sign of diversity in society.

Erfurt (dpa/th) – Colorful, tolerant and diverse: Several thousand people demonstrated for the rights of the queer scene at Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Erfurt. According to the organizers, well over 4,000 people took part in the demonstration around Theaterplatz in Erfurt in high summer temperatures. The police spoke of up to 3,500 participants.

“We wanted to show diversity and acceptance of the queer scene. We are part of society,” said Richard Gleitsmann, spokesman for the Erfurt CSD. The influx was larger than last year, as was the number of supporters, including, for the first time, a large company.

After the outcome of the Thuringian state elections with the AfD as the strongest party, there is concern that acceptance of queer life could decline, said Gleitsmann. The AfD propagates a very traditional image of the family and rejects other forms of people living together. “AfD supporters tend to be hostile towards us.”

Concern in the queer scene

Another cause for concern was that right-wing groups had acted against queer people in Leipzig and Bautzen in Saxony this year. “We want everyone to be able to live peacefully,” said the CSD spokesman. This also applies to queer structures in rural areas, which must be protected. Another demand at the demonstration was the reception of the queer center in Erfurt and its reliable support.

Christopher Street Day commemorates the uprisings of the queer community on Christopher Street in New York in 1969. It is about the equality of homosexual, transsexual, bisexual, queer and intersex people.