Germany's Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz is being criticized for a statement he made about the rainbow flag. The conservative CDU leader Merz has said that he does not think the pride flag should be raised outside the federal parliament at the annual pride parade, because the parliament "is not a circus tent".
The tradition of raising the pride flag at the Federal Parliament was broken this year by the President of the Parliament Julia Klöckner, who in May declared that the flag will now only be raised on May 17, the International Day Against Homophobia.
The decision has been criticized by hbtq groups and by the political opposition.
–The pride flag is not a circus object, but a symbol of diversity and human rights, says board member Andre Lehman in one of Germany's largest hbtq organizations LSVD, to the channel ZDF.
I want to remind the Chancellor that he is talking about a group that was persecuted by the Nazis, he adds.
