"Zero Tolerance!"
The slogan for CSD Cologne / Cologne Pride 2008

In order to avoid misunderstandings we have attached secondary themes "for zero tolerance" to the actual slogan. Naturally, we fundamentally advocate beyond tolerance and acceptance. We no longer offer tolerance towards the adverse powers whose own attitude is branded with exclusion and intolerance, and at the same time call on politicians and the community to curb these tendencies with us. As in previous years, we have expanded the slogan into thematic areas and have chosen five themes which, in our view make the problem of continuing, and at times increasing intolerance towards lesbians, gays and transgenders particularly clear.

Unfortunately, representatives of the world's religions still massively disapprove of homosexuals out of alleged theological grounds and formulate this attitude, at times in dramatic form, not only upon its believers, but also upon the secular public. Gays, lesbians and transgenders experience particularly strong rejection through the Catholic Church and most streams of Islam. It is not acceptable that hate and ostracism towards homosexuals be preached based upon out-of-date construed religious teachings in our free democratic constitution. Religious freedom is not categorically guaranteed; at its latest it finds its boundaries in the impingement of human dignity of others.

Culture German gangster rap or Jamaican dance hall, gays and lesbians are consistently the target of hate music. Sizzla Kalonji, a dance hall star with many German fans calls out clearly in one of his songs to burn or shoot gay men. The German rapper G-Hot fantasizes of marching through CSD with a machine gun. These and other examples show that through the music medium existing provisos towards homosexuals massively stir up audiences and they can even resort to an option of violence. Here, justice and politicians are demanded to forcefully employ existing laws and draw the line on non-acceptable hate tirades.

The classical image of home sweet home can quickly become a nightmare for many lesbians, gays and transgenders when they disclose their sexual identity to their families and thereby do not encounter the expected understanding, but rather are met with anger. Unfortunately, the times are not yet over in which parents show their sons and daughters the door after their coming out because of damaged pride, from fear of chit-chat from the neighbours or other motives, and cross the line with destructive sentences such as "You are now no longer my child!". Also valid here: Zero Tolerance! Indeed, with the addition that it is the duty of the state and community to empower parents and families through education and support of acceptance work, that the homosexuality of their own children not be experienced as defeating or threatening, but rather as normal and enriching.

The fact that "gay" is one of the most favourite profanities in German schoolyards has not only been amply discussed in the German press, it also parallels the real world, in which for example, one experiences every day in a tram ride in the hours just after school has ended. Scientifically documented is the further fact that the suicide rate of gay and lesbian youth is many times higher than that of their heterosexual peers. We do not allow ourselves to resign to this fact! Teachers and politicians have to ultimately develop concepts in schools which assure an effective and lasting "values education" for which respect towards minorities also belongs. Young people have to learn from an early age to have respect for being different. And gays and lesbians are no longer allowed to be fearful of disclosing their sexual identity in schools and within their circle of friends.

As a rule, the most amount of time of an adult's life is generally spent at their work place. Even worse is when they encounter exclusion or ostracism which in non-technical terms is known as "mobbing". Many gays, lesbians and transgenders still experience this in their jobs, the forms of discrimination range from gossip and nasty jokes to labour-law sanctions or even sexual and physical violence. Indeed, with the general equal treatment act (AGG) there is a thoroughly effective instrument to fight against unequal treatment in the work place as a result of sexual identity. However, widespread ignorance still exists amongst employers and employees, and some of those concerned simply do not trust themselves to take on the fight against discrimination. Zero tolerance towards intolerant colleagues and bosses, the work place is not allowed to be a playing field for discrimination!

For each of the five themes, we have selected five, to some extent fictitious representatives and used them to construct missing person's reports. These reports shall be published in the run up to the CSD main weekend as posters and notices. For the CSD Street Festival we want to attach them to information booths, light poles, road barriers etc. We thus achieve the context of our slogan by emblazoning the missing person's reports in each case with one of our colourful and striking stickers. Through its simple appearance and the creative elements that are typically found on a missing person's report, we want to attract attention and perhaps initially also unsettle. At the same time, we express through our signature, our distance and our exclusion from the "missing people", who represent intolerance. It is important for us to clarify that none of the "missing people" have actually disappeared, and for this purpose we therefore do not wish to invoke that these or any other people go missing or in any case to have violence inflicted upon them. In order to avoid any misunderstandings concerning this matter, we have printed a corresponding note on each of the missing person's reports.
With our slogan and its implementation we hope to contribute that in the future our community handles homophobic tendencies more sensitively, and actively and strongly support gays, lesbians and transgenders, wherever they encounter hate, intolerance and exclusion.

Das Motto des CSD Köln / ColognePride sowie die gesamte damit zusammenhängende Gestaltungslinie sind urheberrechtlich geschützt. Ohne vorherige Zustimmung des Kölner Lesben- und Schwulentag e.V. ist es daher untersagt, das Motto und / oder die Gestaltungslinie in einer Weise zu gebrauchen und/oder umzugestalten, die geeignet wäre, die inhaltliche Aussage des Mottos zu verändern und / oder die Gestaltungslinie zu verfälschen. Ausdrücklich untersagt ist die Nutzung des Mottos und / oder der Gestaltungslinie zu werblichen Zwecken.