Colourful, more colourful, Christopher Street Day

Robert Lutz & Robin Rottloff

On the occasion of the city's 6th Christopher Street Day (CSD), CSD Chemnitz e.V. has already started its various events of the action week under the motto AkzepTANZ. The crowning finale will be the parade on Saturday, 14 July, starting at 2 pm. Starting at Schillerplatz, the parade will make its way through Chemnitz city centre. The organisers Robert Lutz and Robin Rottloff, both members of the association's board, answered our questions in the run-up to the event.

How did the idea that Chemnitz needs a CSD come about?
Robert Lutz: The CSD in Chemnitz has been running for six years now. I've been involved since 2015, I just took the initiative in December 2016 and got seven people together to found an independent CSD association. Before that, it was under the banner of the Lesbian and Gay Association of Saxony.
Robin Rottloff: When it was founded, it was mainly about the symbolism of having our own Christopher Street Day association to give the cause more significance.
Robert Lutz:We simply wanted to take matters into our own hands and tackle them. Since 2017, we have been independently organising events, talks and hands-on activities around the topic of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender).

How does the association work in the city?
Robert Lutz: When we are not planning the CSD, we endeavour to support our cooperation partners at their events, for example different people e.V. or AIDS-Hilfe Chemnitz. In the future, we want to network more with the Equal Opportunities Officer and also become a member of the LAG Queeres Netzwerk Sachsen e.V. this year. We also want to support the association at its symposium, which will be held at Chemnitzer Kraftwerk e.V. in September. In future, we would like to define ourselves more through educational and other events and not just organise a demonstration and street festival once a year.

What kind of demonstration is it on Saturday and why is it taking place?
Robert Lutz: A political demonstration for the rights of homosexual, transsexual, bisexual, intersexual people and other queer people who don't want to define themselves in one of these groups. We naturally want to try to promote equality and acceptance of different lifestyles, which unfortunately still doesn't exist in full.
Robin Rottloff: It's not just about presenting all lifestyles or ways of life that people choose as normal and completely accepted on one day of the year and setting an example with such a colourful and cosmopolitan parade. You show people - no matter where you come from, who you are, what gender you are or aren't - we can all have fun together and live in peace. It's also about showing solidarity, even if you don't have anything to do with it directly, to show that there is a social mass behind it.

Apart from the demonstration, what other events took place during the CSD action week?
Robert Lutz: Among other things, there was an opening party at the Pentagon³ on Saturday and a bowling tournament at the Bowling Bar Chemnitz on Monday. There was also a prevention event, a panel discussion organised by AIDS-Hilfe Chemnitz about the new drug PrEP, which is designed to prevent HIV infection. We also had various information events on the topics of intersexuality, the introduction of a third gender, transsexuality and the planned activities of the Queer Network Saxony association.

What goals do you have for the event?
Robert Lutz: Every year we endeavour to grow our event and make it better. Compared to last year, we have managed to organise everything more comprehensively again this year. Of course, the aim is to reach people, educate them, communicate our content and promote acceptance and tolerance.

What is different from last year?
Robert Lutz: We have more and more varied events during the campaign week, so we hope to be able to appeal to a wider range of people. For example, the opening party or the bowling tournament. The most important change this year is that we are very proud to be able to offer events on the important topics of trans* and intersexuality. And we have been able to enter into a cooperation with C³ Chemnitzer Veranstaltungszentren for the street festival.

The street festival in Stadthallenpark?
Robert Lutz: Exactly. We've been holding our street festival in Stadthallenpark since 2016, but we organised it entirely ourselves. This year, we were able to enter into a cooperation with C³ and integrate ourselves into the park summer.

The CSD is a commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising in New York in 1969, when homosexuals and transsexuals dared to defy the police for the first time when they raided the Stonewall Inn bar. The bar was located on Christopher Street. This is why the street has become a symbol of the gay and lesbian movement.

Is it actually the goal that Christopher Street Day clubs will no longer be needed at some point because everyone will deal with it normally?
Robert Lutz: Yes, that would actually be the ultimate, but it's still a rocky road until then. Last year, we achieved the important issue of "marriage for all". Nevertheless, there is still a lack of social acceptance of these diverse lifestyles. CSD Rostock, for example, has almost the same motto as us this year, namely "Acceptance begins in the mind". Many people still lack this social acceptance and we still have a lot of work to do. What absolutely needs to happen is the extension of Article 3 on equality in the Basic Law to include sexual identity so that it is protected by the Basic Law.

Are there other CSD parades in Saxony?
Robert Lutz: Yes, in Dresden and Leipzig. And there is a street festival on the market square in Pirna.

Chemnitz is applying to be the Capital of Culture 2025. Where would you like to see Chemnitz in 2025 - both for the organisation and privately?
Robert Lutz: Well, for the organisation: That we grow, have more members, more people who get involved and organise the CSD and the whole event together with us. And for Chemnitz: if this application works out, it would be cool to be able to walk through the city in the evening and see life and lots of people.