Joint struggle of all workers needed to defend LGBTQI+ rights
The annual Christopher Street Day (CSD) LGBTQI+ Pride parade took place in Bautzen, Saxony, on 10 August. Although it was well attended with 1,000 demonstrators, it met with a surprisingly large response from 700 counter-demonstrators, most of whom were organised neo-Nazis.
The counter-demonstration was organised by the youth association of the party Die Heimat (The Homeland), which is still known to many under its old abbreviation NPD (the National Democratic Party of Germany). Several other groups from the extreme right-wing spectrum also mobilised against the Bautzen CSD. The political nature of this counter-protest is therefore not open to dispute.
Protests against CSDs or other Pride parades are unfortunately nothing unusual. One is often accompanied at such events by rabble-rousing religious fundamentalists who urge you to “return to Jesus”. However, these groups are usually obscure and small.
However, the fact that Nazis are now appearing in the East in such a coordinated and open manner understandably shocks many people, especially young people and LGBTQI+ people. It makes it abundantly clear that fascist groups represent a real and potentially growing danger for all those who do not fit into their world view.
Nazis Build-up
If you skim over the pictures of the counter-protest, you realise that the fascist scene in the East has grown. Young men, some of whom are visibly underage, are conspicuously common among the demonstrators.
The far-right scene has been able to attract a new layer of young people in recent times, particularly through its presence on platforms such as Instagram and Tik Tok. The lack of prospects and frustration with the political establishment has grown noticeably among young people, particularly in the east. This frustration often finds no political expression because there is no militant socialist alternative to the establishment. In the East, however, forces such as the AfD or even more extreme organisations such as the ‘Young Nationalists’ or the ‘German Youth Forward’ are increasingly gaining support in this vacuum.
The influence of the AfD, in which fascist forces are also organised alongside right-wing populists, on the social discourse gives such groups the opportunity to strengthen their own forces in its slipstream and then increasingly appear openly and with more self-confidence. In this sense, such a development should come as no surprise.
How to lead the fight against the right?
The events in Bautzen are an expression of an intensification of verbal but also physical attacks on LGBTQI+ people and will not remain an isolated case. The number of recorded offences against sexual orientation has risen rapidly in recent years (which is partly due to greater awareness and openness to reporting). From 2022 to 2023 alone, the increase was 50 per cent.
The relatively large mobilisation of Nazis in Bautzen will certainly motivate other parts of the far-right spectrum to appear more openly. The following weekend, at the CSD in Leipzig, an even larger contingent of right-wing extremists was expected. However, the Nazis who had travelled to Leipzig were blocked by 2,000 anti-fascists at Leipzig Central Station and had to leave again.
Blockades by fascists are the right thing to do. Those who want to abolish all democratic rights should not be allowed to use them for their agitation. But in order to defeat the far right, it is necessary to build a political alternative – both in the cities and in the countryside.
The AfD, and in its slipstream the traditional fascist scene, thrives on a social breeding ground that capitalism and the policies of the established parties provide on a daily basis. In addition, the Christian Democratic Union/CSU and the ‘traffic light’ coalition government parties are themselves pursuing racist policies when they deport and restrict the rights of migrants. Not only the AfD but also some of these politicians distract attention from social problems with populist propaganda against, for example, gender-equitable language.
Racism and agitation against LGBTQI+ people serves a ‘divide and rule’ strategy, which serves to conceal the true social conditions and divide the working class. This creates scapegoats for social problems – instead of being angry at your boss or the super-rich, who continue to line their pockets, you should be upset about refugees or queer people who have no influence on your own life situation.
The fight against right-wing agitation and division – whether against queer people, migrants or the left – must therefore be combined with the fight against this policy and this system that makes the masses poorer. The common struggle regardless of origin, gender and sexual orientation for social improvements, higher wages, investment in health, education, climate protection and housing etc. can also push back prejudices or racism in the population. The trade unions, as the largest organisations of wage earners, have a special task to take on.
What kind of Pride movement do we need?
In a brochure from 2008 we write:
‘The divisions and upheavals in society are growing, mainly because of the increasing crisis of capitalism. (…) However, right-wing forces will try to present scapegoats in crisis situations. Anyone who believes that gays and lesbians will be spared is mistaken.”
This perspective is currently proving true. This inevitably raises the question of what kind of Pride movement we need.
Bourgeois politicians like to adorn themselves with demands for ‘cosmopolitanism’ and ‘tolerance’ at anti-fascist rallies or CSDs (here even with large corporations and banks). However, there is rightly great anger towards these politicians within the working class. In alliance with such forces, it is easy for the AfD and the Nazis to present themselves as the radical alternative and to establish a connection between anti-social policies and rights for queer people.
For decades, the leadership of the Pride movement has focussed on integrating itself into bourgeois norms and institutions. It is true that there has been a significant increase in social acceptance of LGBTQI+ people – even conservative and right-wing populist politicians are openly homosexual. But real equality and a life without fear of discrimination are a long way off, especially if you belong to the working class. Bi- and homosexual people are particularly affected by poverty in old age and still experience discrimination in the workplace or when looking for housing.
Rainbow flags are above all an advertising tool for companies and bourgeois politicians – it doesn’t stop them from holding on to exploitation, social cuts and restrictions on democratic rights in the workplace or in society. The official Pride parades are completely apolitical and, by integrating (pro-)capitalist forces, are unable to offer the working class a programme with social demands that emphasise the common interests of all workers, queer or not.
What is needed instead is a socialist LGBTQI+ movement. The root of LGBTQI+ hostility lies in capitalism and only the working class has the possibility and the interest to overcome it. A political orientation towards them is therefore indispensable. Conversely, the trade unions should take the fight against discrimination much more comprehensively into the workplace and society.
What is also needed is a mass workers’ party that leads struggles against discrimination or right-wing activities on the streets, in workplaces and in parliament on the basis of a socialist programme and makes it clear that the real boundaries are between the top and the bottom. In a mass workers’ party, as described above, working and poor people of different origins and orientations could come together and lead not only the concrete struggle for their rights, but also a common struggle for socialism.
The Left Party is increasingly perceived as part of the establishment rather than a socialist-oppositional force, especially in East Germany and through its participation in government. It is therefore on the brink of irrelevance and this is a key factor in channelling discontent from the extreme right. The party and the wider left must learn the necessary lessons from this.
Who protects us from Nazis?
At present, Pride parades are protected by the police. But they are not a reliable partner either. Mass mobilisations offer the best protection. Trade unions in particular can play a central role in this. If the trade unions were to mobilise their members en masse to a Pride parade with their own left-wing, militant programme and, for example, help organise the steward service, this would not only make a material difference, but would also mean a necessary exchange between the LGBTIQ+ community and the labour movement, which currently tend to act separately from each other.
A socialist queer movement alone will not mobilise the necessary masses or stop the threat from the right. It is necessary to build a militant left and labour movement and a mass socialist workers’ party that unites workers from all walks of life and allows them to fight together against the far right, discrimination and for a socialist future. This is the only way to overcome division and cement social improvements in the long term.
