Are you part of the CSD parade every year? Are you familiar with the history of Christopher Street Day? Every year, in many large cities around the world, CSD celebrants parade through the streets and just as many spectators watch the parades and demonstrations from the side of the road. What it is all about and where its roots lie, you will find out in this article.
Christopher Street Day – What does CSD mean?
It is an abbreviation, because CSD stands for Christopher Street Day. On this occasion, parades take place all over the world, which are to be understood as demonstrations. Because during a CSD, members of the LGBTIQ* community demonstrate for their rights. And remember the hard fight for them, and of course celebrate themselves as a community. Unfortunately, the CSD with its parades is nowadays perceived in many places less as a demonstration than as a parade and celebration.
New York’s Christopher Street as the starting point of the CSD
The origins of the CSD date back to 1969, when transsexuals and drag queens first resisted state repression and arbitrariness. This was preceded by continuous harassing raids on bars with a predominantly gay or lesbian audience. The Stonewall Inn, which is considered one of the starting points of the clashes and has cult status in the worldwide LGBTIQ* community, is particularly worth mentioning here.
The result was days of violent clashes with the police. To preserve the memory of this riot, the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee was established in 1970 to organise the annual commemorations. They are known in English-speaking countries as (Gay) Pride. From this, the CSD parades that take place every year, as we know them from Germany today, have developed.
10 years from the USA to Germany
Although there has always been a large gay, lesbian and bi-trans community in Germany, it took until 1979 before the first CSDs took place in Bremen, Cologne and Berlin. What began as small protest events of a few activists has since developed into large events that are professionally marketed. At its absolute peak, the CSD Cologne attracted more participants and visitors than the traditional Rosenmontagsumzug (Rose Monday parade). With allegedly more than one million people.
The wish in the background at the beginning was to gain more visibility in society through the CSD parades. In Germany, Section 175, which made homosexual acts a punishable offence, was still in force until June 1994. The subject was considered a social taboo and when the AIDS crisis began, the situation of homosexuals worsened. Scene bars darkened their shop windows, and you had to ring the bell to get in. One of the highlights of the repressive measures against HIV-positive people was the catalogue of measures devised by the Bavarian state secretary Peter Gauweiler. Which was passed by the Bavarian government in 1987 and was only averted through the commitment of the community. The CSD therefore served as a platform for the community to draw attention to their situation. And to campaign for more tolerance and acceptance.
Gay Pride – CSD as a day for pride properly understood
The term Gay Pride used in English-speaking countries shows an important aspect of CSDs. The English word “Pride” means pride. However, this is not so much about being proud of one’s sexual orientation. Rather, it is about resisting stigma and shame and the discrimination that many members of the community still suffer. Even in 2023!
Pride also stands for simply celebrating oneself and being proud of being different. And having the courage to acknowledge one’s own way of being. Pride in the sense of CSD also means taking the opportunity to be proud of the political successes and achievements, such as the abolition of § 175, the Equal Treatment Act protecting against discrimination or the Marriage for All.
What is sometimes forgotten at CSDs, with their events now hardly perceived as demonstrations, is the memory of the heroes of past decades. To whom the LGBTIQ* community owes the achievement of many things. Remembering those who fought for gay, bisexual or transgender rights in the past should always be an essential part of every CSD.
The CSD in Germany today
In Germany, CSDs are usually celebrated from May to September. In 2023, the list of registered events includes more than 60 parades or other CSD events. The various organisers try to avoid date collisions with other CSDs. Sometimes a CSD is not registered for a single city, but for a whole region. E.g. for Lower Bavaria, the Main-Taunus district.
The largest CSD events take place in Cologne (about 950,000 people), Berlin (600,000 people), Hamburg (about 250,000 people) and Stuttgart (200,000 people). These numbers are small when compared to the CSDs in Brazilian São Paulo (3 million), US San Francisco (1.7 million) or Spanish Madrid (1.5 million)
While in the past the main focus was on commemorating the events on Christopher Street and fighting discrimination against LGBTIQ* people. The concerns have differentiated over the course of the CSD’s history. With the achievement of one goal, it was necessary to look for another. This development can be seen well in the changing mottos of the CSD events.
Today, the motto more often includes concerns that are intended to support communities in countries where oppression is particularly strong. For example, CSD Munich has strongly supported the concerns of the partner community in Ukraine and Kiev in recent years. For 2022, for example, the motto “Less me, more we” was chosen there. It was the wish of the community, which wanted to set an example of solidarity and cohesion after two years of Corona.
In Germany, the respective community has a great influence on the CSD. As it is mostly organised by associations that are part of the local LGBTIQ* community. This ensures that there is a broad basis for the CSD and the Pride Week, which always takes place beforehand, with its numerous events.
Contemporary – CSD faces challenges
An equally exciting as challenging period in the history of the CSD is the recent past and the present. A few years ago, for example, there were reports from the difficult management of the organising association of the Capital CSD. Or the unrest in connection with the temporary renaming of CSD Munich to Christina Street Day. They are all now a thing of the past and have been resolved.
A major challenge for the CSD movement is now the success it has achieved. Due to the growing acceptance of queer lifestyles and the resulting political and social changes, some conclude that the CSD is no longer needed. On the surface, it seems that the engagement of the LGBTIQ* community is gradually making the CSD irrelevant.
A closer look, however, shows that the CSD with its basic concerns is still necessary. Because even if laws have changed or new ones have been created, a look at the statistics on violence against members of the LGBTIQ* community shows that laws do not ensure more acceptance in society. We must continue to educate people about queer lifestyles, promote acceptance and fight for rights.
The CSD may have to look for new contents and forms, but it remains an important form of protest and publicity for queer lifestyles, for sexual identities and for the right to be and love the way one wants and needs to.
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