Christopher Street Parade–Berlin
CHRISTOPHER STREET –PRIDE PARADE– I settled in with a Kindl (beer) und Fritz (French fries) and felt sehr Deutsch…Set to begin at 12:30, the parade itself didn’t arrive until 2 but beforehand people came and came and came, some dressed wildly, most just average folks in groups, with families, old and young, gay and straight, almost all drinking beer. Met Thomas (German, 50, raised in Britain) and Terry (French,43) very much in love and sweet and congenial—we talked a good while as they cuddled and told of their coming engagement and marriage—they’ve been with for three months but it was the first time ever for each that they have found love—really very touching and true. Thomas runs an art gallery and Terry teaches school. We shared beer for at least a half hour til they left to meet friends.
Then met Tobias and Peter—handsome men both—about 40 and in a seven year relationship—we talked and waited for the parade, watched a silly man in lederhosen prance amidst a throng of boys with “Born this way” stamped on their naked chests, met a pair of lovely young girls from Israel—twins– and a trio of beautiful Italian girls, an older artist Sybil from France, a hunky boy Thorsten in a furry rimmed cowboy hat and a tight pink teeshirt, assorted trannies in fetching sequined gowns and stilettos, and then came the Parade…
The PRIDE PARADE arrives…..Hours of fun with everyone delighted to pose for photos:-
-a loud and crazy brass band made up of a dozen or so good old boys wearing yellow and black—the colors of the Deutch Postbank
–a bevy of nuns—yes the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence looked gloriously lavish in pink
–a grand dame holding 30-40 helium balloons and wearing a Federalist judge’s blonde wig, smeared lipstick, blow up Dolly Parton breasts and a Heidi-like pretty little laced up pinafore top with the most amazing skirt–a carousel complete with red and white striped circus roof and a riding platform with horses and trucks, polar bears and motorbikes, zebras and police cars—
—creepy gas masked armies and leather bondage tribes
—a long gray-haired BoPeep in red polka dots
—a six pack of girls in rainbow Afros
—nuns and altars boys preceding the Pope and his bishops
—a muscular hottie bodypainted like a Picasso painting
—lots of older men teetering on stilettos or platforms and wearing silver lame or glittering golden evening gowns, their balloon breasts bursting out of cleavage revealing tops, pearls and satin gloves, wigs of bouffant blonde curls, of roses
–lots of twins—two white bobbed pink and pudgy men in black and white checked minidresses; a pair of bodysuited striped things– even their heads and faces covered–
…a trio of wind power towers with Mylar hoops and windmills on their heads
—a pack of roller derby lesbians in black and red careening through the crowd
—a Dominatrix of a certain age in a leopard- lined chariot drawn by leather bondaged “horses,” their faces masked and reined
–and my favorite couple- a trannie—fully decked out in leather and fishnets—strolling down the street with his grannie
All these festive people and hundreds of other costumed partiers appeared between huge semis hauling ballooned trailers filled with partying gays and lesbians and their friends, each one blaring techno music and sometimes dropping leaflets, teddy bears, condoms and stickers—many of which I had emblazoned on my shirt by the end of the day—all in German of course and supporting equality…I danced and took endless photos.
Best best best of all –at the tail end of the parade I met beautiful handsome blue eyed Stefan and his red-headed best friend Freddie from Cologne who swept me up into their party and we spent the next six hours together dancing and drinking well into the night—first we trailed after the last semi, they buying caipirinhas for me as we danced several kilometers into the Tiergarten to the angel and then all the way to the Brandenburg Gate. Polizei were following the last truck and sometimes sounding a siren but weren’t really doing anything to control the crowd—in fact ten or twelve of them were out on the street partying with us… On the way Stefan insisted that I must try a currywurst and bought us each a platter of sausage with a sweet sauce and bread—it was still a hot dog and I wasn’t into it so he ate both our plates and on we went with caipirinhas and sex on the beach down to the thousands of people all dancing and partying. Many hugs and expressions of love from both of these wonderful men—they were so sweet, not only keeping me refreshed with beverages, but buying us waffles und wursts and laughing and talking and hugging all day, the best of friends forever…At the end we found a great disco truck and danced full bore for an hour or more, Freddie finding a cutie to kiss, Stefan and I and assorted great guys dancing in a tight cluster of happy energy.