The Bundestag hoisted the rainbow flag for the first time on Saturday morning.

The flag with the six colorful stripes, a symbol of the queer community, waved on the southwest tower of the Reichstag building in Berlin.

Two more of the flags were raised in front of the east and west portals of the German parliament seat;

In addition, the Chancellery, the Federal Council and numerous federal ministries adorned themselves with the symbol, which has been used by the queer movement since the 1970s.

Johanna Christian

Editor in the Society & Style department.

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Parliament is thus showing "the flag for tolerance and diversity," said Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) in a video message.

This makes it clear to everyone: "Gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transsexuals and intersexuals are a valuable part of our country." The President of the Bundestag recently signed the Charter for Diversity and also wants to implement this for the Bundestag administration.

"Against Hate, War and Discrimination"

Permission to raise the flag on certain occasions was only officially granted in April.

A previously applicable ban on special flags was lifted by Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD).

The occasion at the weekend was Christopher Street Day (CSD), which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Berlin on Saturday under the motto "United in love - against hate, war and discrimination".

The parade started near Potsdamer Platz and ended after more than seven kilometers in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

The police counted around 350,000 participants, the organizers themselves even spoke of 600,000.

The CSD in Berlin is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

"Berlin is and will remain the rainbow capital," said Governing Mayor Franziska Giffey (SPD).

The colorful diversity of the LGBTI community (often abbreviated to LGBTI after the English name) enriches the city.

"Even today, people who consider themselves part of the LGBTI community are marginalized and even physically attacked," Giffey said.

"We must therefore take a decisive stand against hate and exclusion." She encouraged citizens to "take a clear stance against it".

This also applies to people who are not part of the queer community.

The organizers of the CSD in Berlin drew a positive balance on Sunday.

A strong signal went out from the large demonstration and the associated events, said spokeswoman Sandrina Koemm-Benson on Sunday of the German Press Agency.

“We are many and we are loud.

And we won't be silenced.

We stand up for our rights.” The CSD has shown once again that political goals can be represented with a lot of fun and thus convince many people.

Christopher Street Day originated in the United States.

On June 28, 1969, police stormed the Stonewall Inn, a gay and transgender bar on New York's Christopher Street.

This was followed by a day-long series of violent conflicts between the police and the LGBTI community.

The uprising is seen as a turning point in their struggle for equal treatment and recognition, as well as the birth of the modern queer movement.

The Stonewall Uprising is commemorated around the world every year.

Bundestag President Bas announced that next year the Bundestag will also commemorate queer Nazi victims on Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th.

People who were persecuted, imprisoned and murdered because of their sexual and gender identity would be the focus of the memorial event for the victims of National Socialism.

So far, the Bundestag Presidium had not responded to demands for an official Bundestag commemoration.