German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, writing in a guest column for the weekly paper Die Zeit, urged solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and strongly condemned threats aimed at upcoming Christopher Street Day (CSD) events. “We cannot tolerate this in a robust democracy,” Steinmeier writes three weeks after the Berlin CSD attack.
On July 25, 2026, an Islamist attacker plowed a car into the Christopher Street Day parade in Berlin’s Tiergarten district and then used a machete. One woman was killed and more than 30 people were injured, some severely (TheColu.mn reported). “The shock sits deep,” the president said. The act had “abruptly ended a celebration that brought together people from all over the world — queer and non‑queer alike — to celebrate life and the courage to be free.”
Not only an attack on “us all”
Steinmeier implicitly distanced himself from Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had labeled the CSD assault an “attack on our society.” “As true as it is that this attack affected all of us, it is clear that the act, in its full hatred, was aimed first at gay and lesbian people and at the entire queer community,” Steinmeier wrote.
Many members of the community have since voiced fear, because queer people have long carried a heightened risk of harassment and crime. The number of related offenses reached a new high last year. In recent years, CSD marches—especially in smaller towns—have repeatedly faced threats and assaults, sometimes happening only under heavy protection or being canceled altogether. “The perpetrators are Islamists, as in Berlin, but more often also right-wing extremists who direct their hatred toward an open society and, increasingly, toward homosexuality and queer people.”
Resistance to a “rollback” toward exclusion and discrimination
The president reaffirmed the right to self-determination as a fundamental principle of German society: “Self-determination, equal rights — this is not something that concerns only minorities. It is the political DNA of our country. And we will defend it, even against those who seek a rollback toward exclusion and discrimination.”
He named measures that should follow as necessary: “consistent law enforcement, safety in public spaces, protection of civil society, an education initiative, solidarity and empathy.” These tasks, Steinmeier said, are “an obligation for all of us.”
Ahead of the weekend and the weeks to come, Pride parades and memorial events for the Berlin attack victims are planned in several German cities. Steinmeier urged society to ensure every person can live “not only without fear, but with pride” — “not only in private spaces, but also in public.” He added that this is “the essence of a free society: the freedom we want to live for ourselves should also be the freedom of everyone else.”
