"We're here to stay!" Many thousands of people at CSD Leipzig

More than 10,000 people celebrated the end of Christopher Street Day in Leipzig on Saturday. According to initial police reports, there were no disturbances during the colorful demonstration. Last year, several hundred right-wing counter-demonstrators had tried to disrupt the parade.

This year's motto was "We're staying here!" in reference to the Peaceful Revolution of 1989. At the time, people wanted to use the slogan to express that they did not want to give up East German society by emigrating to "the West". They wanted to stay here, change something and make a difference for the better.

According to the organizers, this idea is also driving the CSD in Leipzig. "We are also taking to the streets for freedom, democracy and human rights. Against exclusion, hatred, agitation and discrimination."

Rainbow flag at the start at the New Town Hall

There were around 50 events in Leipzig over the course of more than a week. Last Friday, the rainbow flag was raised at Leipzig's New Town Hall as a symbol of the emancipation movement of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, asexual and queer people. The highlight, however, is traditionally the final Saturday with the rally on Augustusplatz and the subsequent parade through the city.

Christopher Street Day takes place every year in many cities around the world and commemorates events on June 28, 1969 in New York: police officers stormed a bar on Christopher Street, triggering several days of protests by gays, lesbians and trans people, among others. The CSD is intended to commemorate their rights. According to the organizers, the first CSD in East Germany took place in Leipzig in 1992.