Christopher Street Day will take place again in Berlin on Saturday (July 22) – with performances by Tokio Hotel and Ton Steine Scherben.
The climax of Pride Month takes place on July 22 with the Pride in Berlin instead of. For the 45th time, people are parading through the city and showing their colourful, playful, fun-loving ways to campaign for the visibility and social equality of LGBTQIA+ community to demonstrate and to celebrate at the same time. More than 100 foot groups and 77 vehicles are expected for the 7.4-kilometer route.
The motto this year: “Be their voice – and ours! For more empathy and solidarity!” The organizers are also consciously aiming to appeal to their own community to include all those who may have hardly had a voice so far or who do not (yet) see themselves as part of the queer movement.
The CSD website says: “Sexualities, identities and ways of life that belong or do not belong to our LGBTIQA* minority should be considered without exception in a plural society and their self-determination should be accepted and supported. Whether queer people who are victims of the war against the Ukrainian population, queer people during the Iran revolution or in the smallest circle in our city of Berlin, where there is often a lack of empathy and solidarity between over-represented and hardly noticeable (visible) people in our community. We must finally become that rainbow city again that everyone likes to talk about – as a community – and through more political support. Your words must be followed by more activism.”
CSD in Berlin 2023: When does it start, where does it go?
The CSD begins on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. and the demonstration procession starts from Leipziger Straße / Spittelmarkt corner in the direction of Mitte to the Bundesrat and Potsdamer Platz. Then it goes in the direction of Schöneberg and Nollendorfplatz. From there the march runs in the direction of the Victory Column and finds its destination on the Straße des 17. Juni. The first cars and demonstrators should be at the Brandenburg Gate around 4:30 p.m. The final rally will also take place here.
The Straße des 17. Juni between Großer Stern and Brandenburger Tor, Ebertstraße between Scheidemannstraße and Behrenstraße as well as Yitzhak-Rabin-Straße and Pariser Platz have been closed to the rest of the traffic for the CSD since July 20th. In addition, the John-Foster-Dulles-Allee/Scheidemannstraße/Dorotheenstraße between Spreeweg and Ebertstraße will be closed on July 22, the day of the CSD.
Visitors to the CSD are advised to travel by public transport. However, as in previous years, individual subway stations could be closed due to the demonstration. In this case, that would be S+U Brandenburg Gate, U Bundestag and U Nollendorfplatz.
CSD in Berlin 2023: What does the program at the rally look like?
The Rally for the CSD will include several speeches, with a focus on the drag community, which is hostile around the world, and a subsequent cultural program. Several awards are also presented, including the Soul of Stonewall Awards. The historian Dr. Lutz van Dijk, who submitted a petition to commemorate queer people separately in the Bundestag. About 150 speeches will be given during the day. The Governing Mayor, Kai Wegner, and the Berlin Queer Commissioner, Alfonso Pantisano, will also raise their voices. The event ends at midnight.
The cultural program following the rally will include performances by Tokio Hotel and clay stones shards and many other surprise guests.
Pride in Berlin 2023: What will the weather be like?
A mix of sun and clouds is expected for Saturday. A few light showers are possible, but it should remain largely dry with temperatures between 21 and 23 degrees.
Good to know: The first Christopher Street Day in Berlin took place on June 30, 1979. The motto back then was “Gay Pride”. A total of 450 demonstrators took to the streets.