The Berlin Pride Celebration, also known as
Christopher Street Day
Christopher Street Day (CSD) is an annual European LGBTQ+ celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and against discrimination and exclusion. It is Germany's and Switzerland's counterp ...
Berlin, or CSD Berlin, is a
pride parade
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events som ...
and
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...
held in the second half of July each year in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
, Germany to celebrate the
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
, and
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
(
LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term ...
) people and
their allies. Since 1979, the event has been held each year. Berlin Pride is one of the largest gay and lesbian organized events in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
and one of the biggest in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. Its aim is to demonstrate for equal rights and equal treatment for LGBT people, as well as celebrate the
pride
Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) w ...
in
Gay and Lesbian Culture.
History
The CSD is held in memory of the
Stonewall Riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of ...
, the first big uprising of LGBTQ people against police assaults on June 27, 1969. These took place in
Christopher Street
Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the continuation of 9th Street west of Sixth Avenue.
It is most notable for the Stonewall Inn, which is located on Christopher St ...
, in the neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City, New York.
The first CSD in Berlin took place on June 30, 1979, and since then has taken place every year. In 2012, around 700,000 people attended the CSD Parade, and 500,000 people were present at the final parade location at the
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William II after Prussian invasion ...
, making it into one of the largest events in Berlin as well as one of the largest Pride Events in the world.
File:CSD-1 Berlin 2004.JPG, CSD Berlin 2004
File:Berlin.CSD.2006.7442.jpg, Berlin Pride 2006
File:CSD 2008 Berlin (8).JPG, CSD Berlin 2008
File:CSD Berlin 2011 a 25062011 kpjas.jpg, CSD Berlin 2011
Events
CSD Berlin comprises several events, taking place within the framework of the month-long Pride Festival, usually starting at the end of May. Pride Week is the final week of the festival, ending with the CSD Parade. The CSD Gala has been taking place since 2011, and is organised in co-operation with the Friedrichstadt Show Palace.
In the same month both
Kreuzberg Pride
The Kreuzberg Pride, usually known as ''Transgenialer CSD'', was a parade and festival held in June each year in Kreuzberg, Berlin, to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their allies. From 1998 to 2013, the ...
and ''Gay Night at the Zoo'' are held. More gay festivals in Berlin include
Folsom Europe
Folsom Europe, also known as Folsom Straßenfest (English: Folsom Street Fest), is an annual BDSM and leather subculture street fair held in September in Berlin, Germany since 2003.
History
Folsom Europe was established in 2003, in order to br ...
, and
Easter in Berlin Easter in Berlin also known as Easter Berlin, founded in 1975, is the biggest leather and fetish event in Europe. It takes place in Berlin every year at Easter (March or April).
History
The meeting is organized by the members of the club BLF, ...
.
Organization
All CSD events are organised by the Berliner CSD e.V. (Berlin LGBT Pride Association). The organization was formed at the end of 1999. The association was meant to relieve the three previous coordinators: the "Sonntags-Club", "LSVD" and "Mann-o-Meter", who had been organizing the "CSD Berlin" from 1994 to 1999.
Each year, the theme, motto and political demands of the CSD Parade are determined in so-called Pride Forums. These are open meetings that can be attended by anyone.
See also
*
LGBT rights in Germany
*
Lesbian and Gay City Festival
References
External links
CSD Berlin
LGBT events in Berlin
Pride parades in Germany
Culture in Berlin
Tourist attractions in Berlin
Parades in Berlin
Annual events in Berlin
Summer events in Germany
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