Blonde mane, dark dress and roller skates - this is what the first Hamburg drag queens look like. On June 28, 1980, they march through the streets of the Hanseatic city at the Stonewall demonstration - because that's what Christopher Street Day was called back then.
Stonewall Inn, Christopher Street:Origins in New York
The parade goes back to events eleven years earlier in New York's Greenwich Village. Here is the Stonewall Inn, a pub on Christopher Street. In 1969 there were violent clashes between gays, lesbians and transsexuals and the police in the bar. In memory of this, Christopher Street Liberation Day takes place from the summer of 1970. A parade in which lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people demonstrate for their rights. Homosexuals in Germany also campaigned for their rights from the early 1970s. The first gay demonstration in Germany took place in Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1972. The first CSDs - which are really called that - were held in Bremen and Berlin in 1979.
Latecomers Hamburg with demo against paragraph 175
So in 1980 Hamburg is rather late when the first Gay Pride Week takes place there. Heart of the week:the Stonewall demonstration on June 28, 1980, the forerunner of today's CSD. It is the first time that Hamburg gays and lesbians have made public demands. They are against paragraph 175, which punishes homosexuality among men. It wasn't particularly colorful on the streets back then. The primary concern of the approximately 1,500 demonstrators is to improve their social position.
"Pink lists"? Police violence in Schanzenpark
The demonstrators are marching through the city center to the Schanzenviertel. On the way, they are accompanied by a police car, from which the officers take photos. The demonstrators have a suspicion:the pictures are being used for "pink lists." On these, authorities collect the names of suspected homosexuals. When the activists asked the police officers to release the films with the pictures, a scandal erupted. Tear gas and batons are used against the demonstrators, several are injured. The movement goes to the press with the story. The media report on the actions of the police and are mostly on the side of the demonstrators. The first Stonewall demonstration in Hamburg is a success.
Success as a CSD with the "warmest in the north"
From now on, Stonewall demonstrations will take place regularly in Hamburg. But there are differences between the various gay and lesbian movements. At the end of the 80s, hardly any people came to the demos. That's why the organizers decide to start over in 1992:With the motto "The warmest thing in the north" and under the name Christopher Street Day, the organizers relaunch the event. The whole thing is much more colorful than before, but there are still political statements. The focus is on the Catholic Church, the topic of outing is very popular and the question of whether teachers are allowed to be homosexual is also hotly debated.
CSD becomes a fixed date for Hamburg's first mayor
The fact that Hamburg's first mayor - here Peter Tschentscher (SPD) - is running with the CSD is now considered good manners.Chris Lambertsen, who until then had accompanied every CSD as a photographer, is bringing out an illustrated book to mark the 30th anniversary of the parade. At this point in time, Hamburg's Christopher Street Day has long since become an institution. Gay and non-gay politicians take part in the actions in a media-effective manner. So it is completely normal that Hamburg's first mayor - from Ole von Beust to Olaf Scholz to Peter Tschentscher - schedules the CSD as a fixed date. And public interest in the parade continues to grow:in 2019 around 90,000 gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexuals paraded through the streets of the Hanseatic city, celebrated by around 110,000 spectators - a record.
The LGBT movement (an abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) also takes to the streets in other northern German cities every year, for example in Kiel, Lübeck, Hanover, Oldenburg and Schwerin.
Christopher Street Day in Corona times bike demo
However, the 40th anniversary of the CSD in Hamburg will be different than usual. In the course of the corona pandemic, the Hamburg organizers turned the large, colorful parade into a bicycle demo with up to 3,000 participants, which took place on August 1st in several blocks through St. Pauli and Altona.