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4d ago

Bundestag Police Enforce Removal of Rainbow Flags From MPs’ Offices

Across party lines, MPs argue that strict enforcement of the Bundestag’s Paragraf 4 neutrality rule undermines queer visibility.

Auf dem Reichstagsgebäude darf die Regenbogenflagge nur noch am 17. Mai gehisst werden – das hat für Diskussionen gesorgt.
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Overview

  • The Bundestag administration invoked Paragraf 4 of its house rules to demand that rainbow flags be removed from MPs’ offices, asserting a ban on external displays of flags, posters or stickers.
  • This week, Bundestag police were dispatched to enforce the directive, physically taking down pride flags despite protests from legislators.
  • Officials maintain the enforcement is a routine application of neutrality rules that also covers national and EU flags visible from office windows.
  • Opposition MPs from the Greens, SPD and Die Linke have decried the move as an “absurd” curtailment of LGBTQ+ solidarity and a misinterpretation of parliamentary rules.
  • The controversy follows earlier measures by President Julia Klöckner limiting the rainbow flag to International Day Against Homophobia on May 17 and barring the Regenbogennetzwerk from this year’s CSD parade.