Agency Report –
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has backed the decision not to fly the rainbow flag on the Reichstag building – which houses the German Parliament – during Berlin Pride celebrations, saying the building “is not a circus tent.”
Julia Klöckner – the president of Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag – had decided not to fly the flag on the Reichstag during Pride celebrations – known locally as Christopher Street Day (CSD).
Asked about Klöckner’s decision, Merz told German public broadcaster ARD on Tuesday that “the Bundestag is not a circus tent” on which flags can be hoisted at will.
The flag, a symbol for the queer community, is hoisted one day a year on May 17 to mark the international day against homophobia, he said. “On all other days, the German flag and the European flag are flown on the German Bundestag, and no others. And this decision is the right one.”
Everyone can fly whatever flags they want on their own doorstep, said the chancellor. “But we’re talking about the German parliament here, and in the German parliament, we don’t fly any flags every day, but the German national flag and the European flag.”
The Reichstag building – which houses the Bundestag – first flew the rainbow flag to mark CSD in 2022.
Former Bundestag president Bärbel Bas said raising the flag would show a commitment to diversity.
Klöckner’s decision not to raise the flag at parliament on CSD was criticized by opposition parties the Greens and the Left, among others.
The term Christopher Street Day is used in Germany to refer to Pride celebrations for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) communities.
It is a reference to the location of the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighbourhood, where a protest against police discrimination on June 28, 1969, kick-started the gay liberation movement.
