{"id":135109,"date":"2026-07-25T09:16:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:16:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/135109\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T09:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:16:18","slug":"berlins-first-drag-march-mixes-protest-pride-and-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/135109\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin\u2019s first drag march mixes protest, pride and celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Drag queen Sister Daphne OSPI pushed aside her pink veil, fluttered her long purple eyelashes and raised her hands to bless the crowd at Berlin\u2019s first drag march.<\/p>\n

She was among the organizers of Friday afternoon\u2019s event, which served as the opening act for one of Europe\u2019s largest LGBTQ+<\/a> celebrations. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected Saturday to join Berlin\u2019s pride parade<\/a>, known in Germany as Christopher Street Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery step is a declaration, every kiss an act of revolution, every wig is a war cry,\u201d she said as some 500 drag queens, drag kings and LGBTQ+ supporters cheered before marching and dancing through the city to the music of the Transophonix brass band.<\/p>\n

\"Sister<\/p>\n

\n Sister Pia, left, Sister Daphne, second right, and Sister Clementia of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, pose in front of the German parliament building the Reichstag Building during the first Drag March on the eve of the Pride Parade in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)\n <\/p>\n

Sister Pia, left, Sister Daphne, second right, and Sister Clementia of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, pose in front of the German parliament building the Reichstag Building during the first Drag March on the eve of the Pride Parade in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

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\"Sister<\/p>\n

\n Sister Clementia of the German chapter, OSPI, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, enjoy the sun prior to the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)\n <\/p>\n

Sister Clementia of the German chapter, OSPI, of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, enjoy the sun prior to the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

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The band played \u201cDas lila Lied,\u201d or \u201cThe Lavender Song,\u201d an anthem of the gay rights movement from the 1920s, as performers in high heels, glittering dresses and flamboyant makeup passed the Reichstag parliament building and continued to the Brandenburg Gate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re combining protest and resistance with joy and celebration\u201d<\/p>\n

Sister Daphne<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re combining protest and resistance with joy and celebration,\u201d Sister Daphne said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes us so unique and that\u2019s also what makes our demonstrations so popular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin\u2019s annual Pride celebration commemorates the 1969 Stonewall rebellion<\/a> in New York, which began after police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.<\/p>\n

Sister Daphne belongs to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an LGBTQ+ group made up mostly of people who dress flamboyantly as nuns. She said she was delighted that hundreds attended the march and that more and more joined as it moved through Berlin. <\/p>\n

\"Sisters<\/p>\n

\n Sisters Pia, left, Sister Daphne, second right, and Sister Clementia, right, of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, attend the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)\n <\/p>\n

Sisters Pia, left, Sister Daphne, second right, and Sister Clementia, right, of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, attend the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

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\"From<\/p>\n

\n From left, Sister Pia, Sister Clementia and Sister Daphne of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, arrive at a train station for the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)\n <\/p>\n

From left, Sister Pia, Sister Clementia and Sister Daphne of the German chapter OSPI of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SPI, arrive at a train station for the first Berlin Drag March on the eve of the Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

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The organization was founded in San Francisco in 1979, and its German branch was established in 1991.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, we sisters are out and about in the nightlife scene, handing out safer-sex materials and collecting donations for people affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as for queer projects,\u201d Sister Daphne said. \u201cOr we\u2019re out at Pride parades, all over the country \u2014 across Germany, and sometimes even throughout Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Sister Daphne had a wide smile on her face, which was painted white, as she raised her left fist in a gesture of protest and pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings me incredible joy to get ready, put on my makeup and get into the right mindset,\u201d she said. \u201cI really enjoy being out and about the way I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berlin\u2019s first drag march turns protest into a glittering celebration<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Drag queen Sister Daphne OSPI pushed aside her pink veil, fluttered her long purple eyelashes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135110,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[99],"tags":[112,65540,71,1162,190,4322,1453,3071,3982,1161],"class_list":["post-135109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-daphne-ospi","tag-europe","tag-general-news","tag-germany","tag-lgbtq","tag-new-york","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-san-francisco","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116979865255145188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}