Members of Germany’s Green and Left parties made a powerful statement in parliament this week by donning outfits in the colours of the Pride flag, after officials banned the rainbow flag from being flown at the Bundestag for Christopher Street Day (CSD) celebrations.
CSD is Germany’s annual LGBTQ+ event, held in cities like Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg, commemorating the Stonewall Riots and promoting equality. While the Pride flag had previously been raised at the Reichstag Palace, this year, newly appointed Bundestag Director Paul Göttke prohibited the display.
Göttke justified the decision by citing the Bundestag’s “duty of neutrality,” stating the administration would not participate in “political demonstrations and public gatherings.” This marked a return to older policies, limiting official flag displays to recognised days like IDAHOBIT—the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersex Discrimination and Transphobia.
In response, Green and Left MPs attended a parliamentary session wearing Pride colours. “The more colourful the parliament is, the better,” said Nyke Slawik, spokesperson for queer politics for the Greens.
The protest follows broader restrictions: queer staff within the Bundestag’s Rainbow Network have reportedly been barred from participating in the Berlin Pride parade in an official capacity. Critics argue these changes reflect a “worrying pattern of administrative sabotage.”
“First the ban on the rainbow flag, now the exclusion of queer staff,” one advocate noted. “Step by step, the Bundestag is retreating from its public commitment to human rights and queer visibility.”
An online petition demanding Bundestag President Julia Klöckner reverse the flag ban and support queer visibility has garnered over 22,000 signatures. It calls for flying the rainbow flag on Berlin’s CSD on 26 July.
“Hundreds of thousands of people peacefully march for the rights of LGBT+ people and against exclusion and hate,” the petition states. “Yet the German Bundestag—the heart of our democracy—distances itself from CSD.”
The petition adds: “When the Bundestag raised the rainbow flag for CSD for the first time in 2022, it was a milestone. That progress must be built upon, not rolled back. Silence instead of visibility sends the wrong message.”
President Klöckner previously confirmed the flag would only be flown on IDAHOBIT moving forward, stating CSD “thrives on its powerful presence on the streets.”
