150,000 LGBTQ March in Berlin~2 Attacks at the End~

Revelers march in Berlin

BERLIN (AP) — Draped in rainbow flags and touting signs, around 150,000 people marched for LGBTQ rights Saturday at Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration, celebrating this year’s parade theme “United in Love.”

Berlin police gave the crowd estimate Saturday afternoon but said the number may still grow into the evening. 

Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s deputy mayor and a senator for culture and Europe said in a speech opening the celebrations that Berlin must be a “safe haven” for LGBTQ individuals facing persecution in their home countries.

“For all the countries where being queer is still a punishable offense ... Berlin must be a city of freedom,” he said.

German political institutions showed their support for the LGBTQ community. In a historic first, both the German Bundestag and the chancellery flew rainbow flags to mark the occasion.

Saturday’s parade was the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic that the annual celebration had proceeded without major restrictions.

Last year, around 65,000 people attended the parade amid social distancing.

VIENNA (AP) — 

Two apparent homophobic attacks were reported following Berlin’s annual pro-LGBTQ Christopher Street Day celebration on Saturday, police said Sunday.

In one incident, two girls, aged 16 and 17, and a 15-year-old boy were confronted by a group of nine people in Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood on Saturday evening. The group approached the two girls and made anti-gay remarks to the two girls, police said, presumably because of their clothing.

When the 16-year-old girl answered, one man in the group knocked her hat off her head and tripped her, causing her to fall to the ground. When she stood back up, the same man punched her in the face, then fled.

The girl suffered light injuries, including a wound on her lip, but declined help from emergency services.

In central Berlin at around 3:15 a.m. Sunday, a group of eight people insulted a 32-year-old man. As he ran away, they caught up to him and physically attacked him, kicking his head and upper body while he lay on the ground. 

A woman passing by saw the attack and stood in front of the victim, at which point the attackers fled.

The man sustained cuts and bruises and was treated on an outpatient basis.

The incidents came at the end of a day in which hundreds of thousands came out to support LGBTQ rights around the city. Final police estimates put the overall crowd size at 350,000, after revising its initial estimate of 150,000.

The parade itself was peaceful, police said.

Saturday was the first time Berlin’s annual celebration had taken place largely without restrictions since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic: It was canceled in 2020 and significantly smaller last year due to pandemic-related rules.