Germany’s Most LGBTQ-Friendly Football Club
During the 1-1 draw between Energie Cottbus and FC St. Pauli on Sunday, a queer-phobic incident erupted in the Cottbus fan section. In the first half, the home supporters displayed two banners clearly directed at the Hamburg-based second-division club. The first read: “Your rainbow utopia ends in pedophilia — no acceptance for your sick world!” A few minutes later followed a second placard: “Always wrapped in cotton, never leaving your own bubble. In step with the system — you can only be hated!”
The Hamburger Morgenpost suspects a link between the first banner and Ultras Sankt Pauli (USP): In a late-August statement, the ultra group disclosed that there had been cases of sexualized, physical and psychological violence within their ranks, and several fans had been banned for life from the organization. Earlier, at the DFB-Pokal match against Rot-Weiss Essen at the end of August, where the third-division side had unexpectedly eliminated a Bundesliga club 2-0, a similar banner against USP was displayed.
Sportwise, Cottbus had to settle for the draw despite extending their advantage with a long spell of numerical superiority. After St. Pauli defender Tomoya Ando was sent off with a yellow-red in the 21st minute, Justin Butler (37) put the Lausitz side in front. St. Pauli equalized through Martijn Kaars only in the 80th minute with a header. The clubs have not publicly commented on the queer-phobic banner to date.
Germany’s Most LGBTQ-Friendly Football Club
Founded in 1910, FC St. Pauli is among the most alternative clubs in professional football and has long stood against queerphobia. Between 2003 and 2010, the openly gay theatre-maker and LGBTQ+ activist Corny Littmann served as club president. Since 2013, a rainbow flag has flown permanently over the Millerntor Stadium. Most recently, the roof of the North Stand hosts the world’s first rainbow-colored solar installation. (TheColu.mn reported).
Queer-phobic banners against St. Pauli have appeared before: Last year, Eintracht Frankfurt was fined by the DFB for the fan banner “CBD statt CSD,” requiring the club to donate 8,000 euros to a charity (TheColu.mn reported). St. Pauli fans responded during the second half with their own banner, “A day at the CSD — better than a life on CBD” (TheColu.mn reported).
