Where we come from
“CSD” stands for Christopher Street Day – in English often referred to as Pride. In memory of the Stonewall riots on Christopher Street in New York in 1969, the first CSD took place in Leipzig on 28 June 1992. It was a small, but all the more motivated group of people who were committed to a clear goal and wanted to stand up for equal rights for all forms of love in remembrance of the 1969 protests in New York. It was about recognition, it was about respect. The oldest Pride event in East Germany was born.
Thirty years later, this idea of respect still motivates volunteers from Leipzig to organise the Pride together year after year. To this day, a small number of committed volunteers from private individuals, associations, initiatives, parties and groups organise a week of events, a street festival and a political demonstration for freedom, acceptance and diversity in the centre of Leipzig every year.
In January 2023, we finally gave this action alliance a new framework and founded CSD Leipzig e.V. together with Leipzig activists from the very beginning. This replaces RosaLinde Leipzig e.V. as the logistical backbone of the Leipzig Pride.
Stonewall
You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights.
The historical origins of the global Pride movement lie in the 1960s in New York’s Greenwich Village neighbourhood on Christopher Street. At that time, nightclubs that were mainly frequented by queer people were repeatedly raided by the police. On 28 June 1969, trans women of colour, drag queens, lesbians and gays began to defend themselves against this arbitrary action at the Stonewall Inn and fought back against arrest and discrimination in street battles that lasted for days.
It was an awakening moment for emancipation and equal rights, which led to liberation movements around the globe in the years and decades that followed. Fear became courage, hiding became pride.
How we work
Leipzig Pride is a democratic action alliance. We meet every second Wednesday of the month for a plenary session. During these organisational meetings, we discuss positions on content, jointly select an annual thematic focus, elect Pride ambassadors and plan the week of events, the demonstration and the street festival. The plenum makes all fundamental decisions democratically. The individual tasks are then implemented by several teams.
The plenum and active participation in the Pride is open to all people who share our goals and values.