Rainbow flag: “No circus tent”: Merz statement ensures outrage

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) triggered broad criticism with his “circus tent” statement about the hoist of the rainbow flag on the Bundestag – also in ranks of the coalition partner SPD. “This is a very unhappy statement. And the Federal Chancellor should rethink this statement again,” said SPD parliamentary group vice Armand in the RTL/NTV “early start”. In times when “queer people experience a particularly large number of hostility, I don’t think so is the right statement”.

Merz had stood behind the course of Bundestag president Julia Klöckner in the ARD talk show “Maischberger” to Christopher Street Day (CSD). When asked how he thinks that Klöckner does not want to hoist the rainbow flag for the CSD on the Bundestag, he said: “The Bundestag is now not a circus tent”, on which you can hiss. There is a day of May 17th – the day against homophobia – on which the rainbow flag is hoisted. Klöckner had previously decided not to raise the flag on Parliament on July 26 on July 26.

A lot of criticism of queer political voices

The Federal Government’s queer officer, Sophie Koch, also criticized. “When the rainbow flag is the flag on a circus tent, what are queer people?” Tell the SPD politician to the news portal “Zdfhute.de”. Especially in times when queer people would be attacked, the rainbow flag on the Bundestag would be a powerful commitment of the state to protect the Basic Law. “An understanding of this would be appropriate for a Chancellor.”

SPDQueer – a working group of the SPD – called for an apology. “This statement is not only disrespectful to the queer community, but also reveals a backward-looking understanding of democracy and representation,” said co-chair Carola Ebhardt. The Bundestag is the house of all citizens – also queer people. The queer -political spokesman for the left faction, Maik Brückner, said: It was true that the Bundestag is not a circus, “we have a clown as a chancellor.”