The police have given a positive assessment of Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Plauen. According to a police spokesperson, the event with a total of 430 participants went off without a hitch on Saturday. There were only minor incidents in the aftermath. One participant was insulted and another felt threatened. 18 people from a counter-protest were charged with incitement to hatred. Following hostilities against CSD participants by right-wing extremists in Bautzen at the beginning of August, the police had a massive presence and deployed around 250 officers to secure the demonstration, including riot police and federal police officers.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert and Saxony's Minister of Social Affairs Petra Köpping (SPD) also joined the CSD. She is her party's top candidate for the state elections and is also responsible for social cohesion in the state government.
Counter-protest very limited in numbers
According to the police, 75 people gathered to protest against the CSD. "As neither the assembly leader nor his deputy were classified as reliable, the assembly could not be held as announced", the police report stated. The previously valid assembly notice was revoked and a parade was not approved. Instead, only a stationary assembly was permitted and this was limited in time. It was then ended prematurely. The participants were prohibited from approaching the Christopher Street Day gathering.
The police also banned a spontaneous rally that two people wanted to hold. They were banned from the city center for the duration of the CSD.
Christopher Street Day takes place every year in many cities around the world and commemorates events on June 28, 1969 in New York: police officers stormed a bar on Christopher Street, triggering several days of protests by gays, lesbians and trans people, among others. The CSD is intended to commemorate their rights.
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