Steinmeier calls for the protection of queer people

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier calls for people to stand up for the rights of queer people and ensure their safety in Germany. “In an open society, everyone must be able to go their own way,” writes the Federal President, and that this applies without fear, with pride, in public and private spaces. Three weeks after the terrible attack on Christopher Street Day in Berlin, people in many German cities again went through the cities this weekend to do exactly that. Demonstrations are planned again next weekend.

The courage, defiance and solidarity of the participants in these demonstrations deserve unqualified admiration. It must be clear to everyone that attacks like the one in Berlin cannot be ruled out with 100% certainty. Gay and queer people have enemies from right-wing extremist and Islamist sides, who may still see acts like those in Berlin as groundbreaking.

The Federal President is therefore right to demand “consistent law enforcement, security in public spaces, protection of civil society, an educational offensive, solidarity and empathy”. But the words sound empty; they have been heard too often, not least from the German head of state himself. It would have been a real, strong sign if Steinmeier himself had appeared at one of these endangered parades.