have had a share in this in the last four decades. In the process of a long and sometimes painstaking development, gays and lesbians in Germany are today free from prosecution and ostracism, are extensively legally equal and increasingly socially accepted.It is obvious to us, that the achieved level of social and political integration is by no means guaranteed for good. Like all social minorities, old and young gays and lesbians lack a concrete image of their collective identity and their history. Cologne Pride is more than just a party. It also commemorates the roots of the emancipation movement and ensures solidarity in the present and the future.
We know that our fight for equality and recognition is not over for a long time yet and perhaps it may never end. In many important areas, lesbians and gays are still legally unequally treated. Either individually or structurally, many gays and lesbians are often still discriminated against in day to day life. Therefore, in the coming years and decades we will also advocate that gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders will be completely emancipated and socially accepted. And that not only in Cologne, but also in the whole of Germany, in Europe and the rest of the World.
In 2009, Germany celebrates two large, positive jubilees: firstly, 60 years of the constitution and secondly 20 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Our 40 years of CSD is quite unusual because the cause for this jubilee is resistance against violent police raids. Nevertheless, in the past 40 years, out of a rather sad origin gays and lesbians have made a success story of growing self confidence and social change. As organisers of the event, we therefore wish to show just what makes CSD so diverse through this years events within the framework of Cologne Pride and the CSD weekend, and in particular all participants of the parade: demonstrating self confidence, calling for pertinacious political and social changes and at the same time having fun, which is bound to the content.
Our freedom. Your freedom. My freedom. Freedom has history. The 2009 slogan addresses itself to you, to me, to us all. We, you and I, are every lesbian, every gay and every single CSD visitor. And naturally the broader community. Therefore, the slogan will appear in different facets. Depending on the medium it will be called "our freedom has history", "your freedom has history" or "my freedom has history".
a lot more ...
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Even Str8s here support CSD. My partner was there today, said it was "wonderful".
ReplyDeletecheck this site out ; http://www.ex-corner.de/
ReplyDeleteway cool
Oh shix, I also peed my pants watching this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTN6Du3MCgI
and this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Orp9qCaj8Bw
but the following one was not my idea
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDT_dXP6tQM
limit exceeded. I quit.
Tony... how did you end up in Germany? Weren't you originally from the US? The Europeans are way ahead of us in terms of social civility. Maybe because the US had such a barbarian heritage. But then again, Germany prior to Roman conquest was a loosely knit society of some very savage tribes. I guess the beast is in all of us.
ReplyDeleteps: I hope pissing in your pants isn't a daily habit :)
How did I end up here? It wasn't my idea. They asked where I wanted to be stationed and I said "Hawaii" and they said "Okay, Hanau". Hanau is in Germany, duh. I'm serious. That's how it happened. And here I am, 30 years later.
ReplyDeleteOh, btw, Germany prior to the Romans was a wild place, very tribal and all. Lots of fighting but also a very cultivated place. Lets expand that a bit. Central Europe was that way prior to the Romans. You can see the Roman influence on some cities jut as you can see in some cities how the Romans had no influence on them. I've lived near the Roman Limes all this time. 18 years ago we were just south of the Limes Germanicus in the area the Romans ruled and now we're north of it in a place the Romans called Gallia. Recommended reading ;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaul
;-) TODAY IS CHRISTOPHER STREET DAY IN COLOGNE !!!! but i won't be going, puh. i have a date with my bike and a friend and his bike. a fav hotel we frequent is celebrating their 100th.