GERMANY: THOUSANDS OF GAYS AND LESBIANS CELEBRATE AT CHRISTOPHER STREET DAY PARADE IN BERLIN.

Record ID: 278331

  • Title: GERMANY: THOUSANDS OF GAYS AND LESBIANS CELEBRATE AT CHRISTOPHER STREET DAY PARADE IN BERLIN.
  • Date: 29th June 2003
  • Summary: (EU) BERLIN, GERMANY (JUNE 28, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. PULLOUT FROM NAKED BREASTS 2. SMILING WOMAN POSING 3. KLAUS WOWEREIT, BERLINS OPENLY GAY MAYOR AND BERLIN STATE PREMIER, CUTTING RIBBON AND OFFICIALLY OPENING 25TH "CHRISTOPHER STREET DAY" (CSD) 4. WOWEREIT WAVING WITH RIBBON 5. (SOUNDBITE) (German) KLAUS WOWEREIT, BERLIN
  • Embargoed: 14th July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVACKP92UHBNF1Q6XWJUB831NM82
  • Story Text: Several hundred thousand people have attended the
    annual gay and lesbian pride parade "Christopher Street Day"
    (CSD) in Berlin.



    Thousands of gays, lesbians and transsexuals made
    their way through Berlin on Saturday (June 28), some dressed
    in outrageous costumes, some wearing close to nothing.

    Fantasy dresses, lots of make-up and leather -- apart from
    naked skin -- were most popular at the twenty-fifth
    "Christopher Street Day" parade.

    A convoy of more than eighty colourfully decorated floats
    slowly drove along the central Kurfuerstendamm shopping area
    where thousands of spectators lined the Streets. According to
    the organisers, some 600,000 people took part.

    This years parade was kicked-off by Berlin's openly gay
    mayor and Berlin state premier Klaus Wowereit.

    "The signal is: Berlin equals tolerance and we oppose
    intolerance. We want to be an international, open-minded
    capital and this means that people, no matter what the colour
    of their skin, what way of living, what cultural background --
    that they can live together peacefully. This is the important
    message for Berlin, also for the future," Wowereit told
    Reuters Television.

    Temperatures of around 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit)
    made this years CSD a success once again, according to one
    participant.

    "Christopher Street Day" originated in New York, when gays
    and lesbians took to the streets in 1979 to protest against
    the police raid at the Stonewall gay bar ten years earlier.

    CSD is now celebrated in some thirty German cities and
    many more around the world.



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