President of German parliament says ‘Nein, danke!’ to Pride flag

BERLIN – The German parliament’s administration has ordered lawmakers to remove Pride flags from public display, amid a pushback against LGBTQ+ activism within the institution.

Since her election in May, the Bundestag’s Christian Democratic President Julia Klöckner has rolled back several practices introduced under her Social Democratic predecessor, such as the flying of the rainbow flag over the parliament during Berlin’s annual Pride parade.

In the latest move, the Bundestag’s administration has ordered an MP to remove a Pride flag and objects – including a rainbow-coloured towel – from display in their office window, according to an email seen by Euractiv. 

The email’s author argued that the parliament’s house rules prohibit putting up posters and signs on generally accessible and publicly visible parts of its buildings “without exception.”

The administration also targeted other MPs in the last few days, including one who had hung up a Pride flag in defiance of the administration’s earlier removal orders, according to two sources briefed on the matter.

German newspaper Tagesspiegel, which also reported on the matter, named two of the affected MPs as Lina Seitzl, a Social Democrat, and Stella Merendino, from the Left party.

Some flags had been on display for extended periods, even several years in one case, according to one of the sources.

A Bundestag spokesperson said the violations were brought to the administration’s attention by other MPs.

“It’s not specifically about the rainbow flag,” he said, noting that a German or EU flag would also have to be removed. He added that removal orders were recurring “again and again” and were a “routine operation.”

A larger quarrel is looming, with the Social Democrats’ parliamentary group expected to raise the matter with the executive committee of the Bundestag this week, asking for a more sensitive approach to enforcing the rule, according to a third parliamentary source.

The removal is typically executed by the parliament’s police, the Bundestag spokesperson said.

In the Pride flag case, officers had scoured the parliament’s corridors, taking pictures of door signs, to identify the culpable MPs, according to the first two sources. One of them noted that other MPs were displaying posters and signs unrelated to Pride in their windows without being reprimanded.

Pride clash

The display of the Pride flag remains subject to controversy in the Bundestag complex.

Klöckner‘s Social Democratic predecessor, Bärbel Bas, had authorised the rainbow flag to be flown for the first time over the Parliament in 2022 to mark Berlin’s Pride parade.  But Klöckner announced in May that the German parliament would henceforth only fly the flag on the International Day against Homophobia.  

She also prohibited the parliament’s queer staff network from participating in the event in an official capacity. 

The restrictions were necessary to maintain the parliament’s political neutrality, Klöckner argued, which required it to abstain from supporting events with a particular political agenda, including Pride. 

If Pride flags were to fly, the observant Catholic argued, then so should the Vatican flag as “Christians are the most persecuted group worldwide.”

Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a fellow Christian Democrat, defended her decision, saying the Bundestag was “not a circus tent”, where flags could be hoisted at whim. 

The decisions and comments have been met with an intense backlash,  including from Merz’s coalition partner, the SPD.

Social Democrat MPs branded the Bundestag‘s withdrawal from Pride “disconcerting”.

The government‘s commissioner on queer affairs, Sophie Koch (SPD), said it would be ”appropriate“ for the chancellor to understand that raising the rainbow flag at the Bundestag is a powerful sign in times when queer people are under attack.

Some 220,000 people have signed a petition calling on Klöckner to fly the rainbow flag at the Bundestag during Berlin Pride on 26 July. 

(mm, jp)