Rainbow flag in Beeskow: A strong sign of diversity and tolerance!

Rainbow flag in Beeskow: A strong sign of diversity and tolerance!

Beeskow, Deutschland - On June 16, 2025, a rainbow flag was again raised in Beeskow, a small town in Brandenburg, in front of the district office. This campaign was supposed to set a strong sign of diversity and tolerance, especially after the shocking theft of the original flag, which was raised on May 17 on the international day against homo, bi-, inter- and translasiveness. The theft had triggered great outrage in the community and illustrated the challenges with which the LGBTQIA+community is still confronted. In order to counteract this development, the new flag was raised under police protection, which underlined the importance of solidarity in times of discrimination, such as [rbb24.de] (https://www.rbb24.de/politik/2025/06/brandenburg-odre-beskow-regenbogenflagge-viel-rechtsextremism

over 30 supporters from Beeskow and the surrounding cities gathered to express this positive message. District Administrator Frank Steffen took the opportunity to emphasize how important it was to show people that they are not left alone. His shock about the right -wing extremist attack on the event "Bad Freienwalde is colorful" is great; Nobody should be afraid to take part in public events. The founder of Jove & Co, Josephine Vetter, also underlined that the rainbow flag is for social cohesion and will blow in front of the district office until the beginning of July.

a sign of tolerance

The importance of the rainbow flag goes far beyond Beeskow. As a symbol of the LGBTQIA+community, it stands for respect and acceptance. With its six colorful strips, if you know the colors, you also know that every color carries a special message: pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, blue for harmony and purple for spirituality. These colors were designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker in San Francisco to set a positive sign of gay and lesbian movement, and have since become a globally recognized symbol of protest against discrimination and for the visibility of the LGBTQIA+persons, such as geo.de describes.

Although progress like "marriage for everyone" in Germany was celebrated in 2017, reality for many queer people is still shaped by discrimination and violence. Terrifying 1,500 hate motivated crimes against queer people were reported to the police in Germany in 2023, an increase of over 50 percent compared to the previous year. This clearly shows that the achievements of the LGBTQIA+community are endangered, in particular political movements through emerging rights.

a look into the past

The International Day against Homo, Bi, Inter- and Translatitude, on which the flag in Beeskow was initially raised, was launched in 2005 and has since brought the goals of sensitization and education into the foreground. As part of these celebrations, rainbow flags were often raised in public buildings in the past. So it shows that the pursuit of tolerance and peaceful coexistence is still very important, as Vice President Barbara Richstein emphasized in a similar action in the 2024 campaign. A signal against discrimination and for the rights of minorities was also set here, such as the Brandenburg Landtag emphasizes.

In times when declining in the acceptance of minorities threaten, it is all the more important to send a strong sign that stands for diversity and encourages people to raise their voice against discrimination. Today in Beeskow lives from this spirit of solidarity and shows that even small communities can make big differences.