Christopher Street Day in Hamburg attracts a large number of visitors from all over Europe every year, who together set an example for acceptance, diversity and joie de vivre. Here, tolerance and equal rights are lived and celebrated for all.
The history of the CSD in Hamburg now goes back more than 40 years. Back then, in the summer of 1980, homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals took to the streets in the Hanseatic city for their rights for the first time on a large scale. Their demand was both simple and courageous: equal rights and tolerance for all - regardless of their sexual orientation. To this day, the CSD makes clear demands on politicians year after year. These include full legal equality for same-sex partnerships and a reform of the existing transsexual law. Celebrated for many years, the CSD should also make clear in 2023 that sexual diversity is something important. Numerous people stand up for this and give the festival its significant character.
Hamburg Pride 2023
Christopher Street Day will take place in Hamburg at 5th August. The festival begins with the so-called Pride Week, during which there are a lot of cultural activities to marvel at. These include gay and lesbian film festivals as well as theatre performances and exhibitions. A number of parties are also part of the festival - spread all over the city, various locations take part in the CSD Hamburg, where the day can be celebrated. In contrast, however, the CSD also often shows its more serious side by discussing topics such as equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Popular folk festival with imaginative costumes and lots of show
In Hamburg, CSD has long since developed into a popular folk festival that attracts more and more visitors to the Elbe every year - including heterosexuals. By now, around 100,000 visitors from all over Europe come to the CSD parade every year, setting an example for acceptance, diversity and joie de vivre. For three hours, almost 40 groups, cars and trucks parade from Lange Reihe (St. Georg) to Jungfernstieg (Old Town). Different politicians lead the parade every year. Also present: imaginative costumes, hot beats and lots of show. The festival's spectrum ranges from pop, electro, Schlager and rock to indie. A central part of the parade is also an approximately half-hour rally in the city, where the demands of the participants are read out in a clearly audible manner. For several years now, Jungfernstieg and Ballindamm have also been firmly in the hands of the LGBTQIA+ community on the CSD weekend, bathing the city centre in a colourful sea of rainbows. Especially important at Gay Pride is the recently introduced Rainbow Day, which shows the community from its artistic and creative side.
A little digression for all those who don't know what to make of LGBTQIA+
Love is not just love - love is diverse. The term LGBTQIA+ is often used to summarise the possibilities of love under one expression or to express who you love, whether and to which gender you belong and how you feel. For the different sexual orientations, the abbreviation LGBTQIA+ stands for the English words Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual (or Transgender), Queer, Intersexual and Asexual. People with one of these sexual orientations or perceived genders are often discriminated. The identities that gather under this terminology experience discrimination because they want to escape from the traditional societal ideas of heterosexuality and cisgendering. Of course, there are a lot of other sexualities for which the "+" stands symbolically. However, what they all have in common (regardless of identity or sexual orientation) is a lack of understanding and disadvantage, which is why many people find a community in the LGBTQIA+ community where they do not have to lead a double life or hide.
