Dispute over CSD picnic in Görlitz: meeting or event?

Political gathering or cultural event? The organisers of Christopher Street Day in Görlitz and Zgorzelec are arguing with the district of Görlitz about this. It is about the final event "Picnic of Diversity". In recent years, it has always been classified by the authority as an assembly.

Not this year. Now the Dresden Administrative Court is to decide. There was already a similar case in Dresden in the spring. Barely two weeks before Christopher Street Day in Görlitz and Zgorzelec, there is a dispute about the final event of the CSD.

The district office as the competent assembly authority has denied the so-called"picnic of diversity" the status of a protected assembly. In the opinion of the authority, this is not a political part of the CSD, as stated in a communication from the CSD Görlitz-Zgorzelec e.V. He organizes the CSD. The association has now filed an urgent application with the Dresden Administrative Court.

He sees freedom of assembly violated. 1,500 participants await The "Picnic of Diversity" with speeches and cultural program is the closing event of the CSD on 26 September on the Obermarkt. The organisers expect up to 1,500 participants.

If the decision is upheld, additional fees and conditions may apply to the organisers. The actual demonstration of the CSD by Görlitz and Zgorzelec is not affected by the decision, it is still classified as a meeting. Too much music at the picnic The district justifies the classification as an event, among other things, by the fact that the entertainment and festive character predominates at the "picnic of diversity". So there is more music than speeches.

This is not an argument for lawyer Stephan Schumann. He represents the association before the administrative court. "The musicians are mostly part of the queer community," he says. The mere appearance on a CSD also signals support for the concerns of Christopher Street Day.

Schumann, an attorney at law in Dresden, already has experience with conflicts over CSD. In Dresden, he represented the organizers of Christopher Street Day in the spring. There, the State Directorate of Saxony had instructed the city to withdraw the assembly status from the multi-day street festival around the CSD. The Dresden Administrative Court initially followed suit.

However, the Saxon Higher Administrative Court reversed the decision after the organisers had changed the concept. The court provisionally placed the CSD event as a whole under the protection of freedom of assembly. Signs for more visibility Wojciech Urlich from CSD Görlitz-Zgorzelec e.V does not know why the district of Görlitz made a different decision this year than in previous years. Because there was already a "picnic of diversity" in the years before, when it was considered a gathering.

This year, the Obermarkt will be right in the centre for the first time: "We wanted to set a bigger example for visibility," says Wojciech Urlich. MDR (VIS)