The President of the Bundestag and the Mayor of Berlin jointly inaugurated Berlin Pride
(Photo: IMAGO/Emmanuele Contini)
Berlin At the opening ceremony of Berlin’s Christopher Street Day (CSD), Berlin Governor Kai Wegener (CDU) pledged to extend Article 3 of the Basic Law. “My firm commitment to the Berlin Senate is this: We want to amend Article 3 of the Basic Law. Gender identity must be included. This is my commitment,” Wegener said on Saturday. “We’ll work with you on this as well.”
According to the provisions of the “Basic Law”, no one shall be disadvantaged or receive preferential treatment because of sex, descent, race, language, motherland and origin, creed, religion or political opinion. The queer community has long called for this piece to be added.
Non-heterosexuals or people who do not identify with traditional male and female role models or other social norms related to gender and sexuality describe themselves as queer.
In his opening remarks, Wegner also warned of growing discrimination against queer people. “Berlin will always be a safe haven for people who have been attacked in other countries. We protect queer communities who are threatened in many countries,” the CDU politician said. “We’ve made progress all over the world, in Ghana, Uganda, Poland, it’s unbearable.”
Wegener was the first CDU Berlin mayor to set up the CSD together with Bundestag President Babel Bass (SPD). It wasn’t just that people agreed: Loud boos were heard many times, and sometimes demands that “Wegener must step down” were heard.
Bass: We must fight discrimination
In the early days of the Correctional Service, Bass (the Social Democrats) called on people to stand up against discrimination. “We have to send a clear signal for a free, pluralistic, diverse society. We’ve achieved a lot, but we still have a lot to do,” Bass said. Discrimination is also on the rise in Germany, she said. “We all have to stand up for ourselves, stand up together and take our stand.”
The president of the Bundestag said of the CSD in Berlin: “It’s a reason to celebrate, we are here, we are diverse. But it is also a testament to the queer rights of all people, that they can live in this country as they want.” This cannot be taken for granted. “We’ve seen people imprisoned, tortured, even killed in other countries.”
Christopher Street Day is celebrated all over the world. The movement dates back to June 1969, when New York police stormed a bar on Christopher Street, sparking riots among gay and transgender people.
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