R-l: Governing Mayor of Berlin Kai Wegner holds a slice of "kiss-kiss rainbow cake" alongside Bastian Finke from the gay anti-violence project Maneo, Seyran Ates, initiator and co-founder of the Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque in Berlin, and Christa Arnet from the advisory board of the gay anti-violence project Maneo, in the run-up to the Day against Homo-, Bi-, Inter- and Transphobia in the Rotes Rathaus.
© dpa
Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) has spoken out against homophobia and trans-hostility.
"I never understand why people are afraid of diversity. To be honest, I'm much more afraid of the simplicity of some people," Wegner said on Friday in the Rotes Rathaus. "And diversity will win at the end of the day, just like freedom. I'm convinced of that, and that's what Berlin stands for."
Wegner cut a two-tier buttercream cake decorated with rainbow-colored sugar crystals in the Säulensaal. The occasion was the International Day against Homo-, Bi-, Inter- and Transphobia on May 17. "I'll be honest, I wish we didn't need days like this. But we do need them, we need them urgently," emphasized the CDU politician, referring to the latest figures presented by the gay anti-violence project Maneo on Wednesday.
According to the statistics, there were 685 cases of insults and assaults against gay men, lesbian women and transgender people across Berlin last year - almost a quarter more than in 2022. "We are the city of freedom, we are the city of diversity, we are the city of tolerance," said Wegner. "But these figures show the opposite." That's why it's important to send out signals.