Thousands of homosexuals murdered by the former Nazi regime have been remembered in Berlin. The ceremony began the capital's annual pride parade inspired by New York's 1969 Christopher Street Day (CSD).
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Lesbian and gay representatives joined by Berlin politicians, including Greens Justice Senator Dirk Behrendt, renewed calls Saturday that Nazi-like persecutions should never be repeated.
Some 7,000 homosexuals died from hunger, disease and maltreatment in Nazi concentration camps during Hitler's murderous 12-year regime in the 1930s and 1940s.
The regime also convicted an estimated 54,000 people under a tightened anti-homosexual paragraph 175 that stemmed from Prussia's 1872 penal code. The rules persisted into divided post-war Germany until various abolition moves began in the 1960s.
Communist East Germany had quashed the anti-homosexual code by 1988 but it was not until 1994 that reunified Germany followed suit.
Germany's central monument to Nazi-persecuted homosexuals was inaugurated in 2008. It stands in Tiergarten Park near Berlin's Holocaust Memorial in memory of 6 million Jews murdered across Europe by the Nazis.
Around 1 million people took part in Berlin's annual pride parade over the course of the day on Saturday.
Organizers' demands included a right to exile in Germany for foreigners persecuted because of their sexuality in their home countries.
Berlin's Left party Culture Senator Klaus Lederer said unresolved issues still remained, including demeaning laws on trans-sexuality.
Berlin's 2019 motto was "Stonewall 50," marking half a century since a police crackdown at the Stonewall Inn in New York in 1969 turned into the so-called Christopher Street Day civil rights uprising.
The capital's first CSD parade took place 40 years ago in 1979, with about 450 participants.
10 animal species that show how being gay is natural
Same-sex pairing is not just normal in the animal kingdom - it's even common. Studies suggest that about 1,500 animal species are known to practice same-sex coupling - from insects, to fish, birds and mammals.
Among giraffes, there's more same-sex than opposite-sex activity. In fact, studies say gay sex accounts for more than 90 percent of all observed sexual activity in giraffes. And they don't just get straight to business. Male giraffes know how to flirt, first necking with each other - that is, gently rubbing their necks along the other's body. This foreplay can last for up to an hour.
Image: imago/Nature Picture Library
Social bottlenose dolphins
Both female and male bottlenose dolphins display homosexual behavior, including oral action where one dolphin stimulates the other with its snout. In the bottlenose world, homosexual activity occurs with about the same frequency as heterosexual play. Male bottlenose dolphins are generally bisexual - but they do go through periods of being exclusively homosexual.
Homosexuality is common among lions as well. Two to four males often form what is known as a coalition, where they work together to court female lions. They depend on each other to fend off other coalitions. To ensure loyalty, male lions strengthen their bonds by having sex with each other. Many researchers refer to this behavior as your classical "bromance" rather than homosexual pairing.
Image: ARTIS/R. van Weeren
Mounting bisons
Homosexual activity between male bisons is more common than heterosexual copulation. That's because female bisons only mate with bulls about once a year. During mating season, males that get the urge engage in same-sex activities several times a day. And so, more than 50 percent of mounting in young bison males happens among the same gender.
Image: imago/Nature Picture Library
Macaques' one-night stands
Both female and male macaques engage in same-sex activity. But while males usually only do so for a night, females form intense bonds with each other and are usually monogamous. In some macaque populations, homosexual behavior among females is not only common, but the norm. When not mating, these females stay close together to sleep and groom, and defend each other from outside enemies.
Image: picture alliance/robertharding
Albatross bonds
The Layson albatross, which nests in Hawaii, is known for its large number of homosexual partnerships. Around 30 percent of pairings on the island of Oahu are made up of two females. They are monogamous, and usually stay together for life - as it takes two parents to successfully rear a chick together. The chicks are often fathered by males that are already in another committed relationship.
Image: imago/Mint Images
Sex-crazed bonobos
Bonobos are considered the closest living relative to us humans, and are known for seeking sexual pleasure. They copulate frequently, including with the same sex. They do so for pleasure - but also to bond with each other, climb the social ladder and reduce tension. About two-thirds of homosexual activities happen among females, but also males enjoy a roll in the grass with each other.
Image: picture-alliance/F. Lanting
A fifth of all swan couples are gay
Like many birds, swans are monogamous and stick with one partner for years. Many of them choose a same-sex partner. In fact, around 20 percent of swan couples are homosexuals - and they often start families together. Sometimes, one swan in a male couple will mate with a female, and then drive her away once she's laid a clutch of eggs. In other cases, they adopt abandoned eggs.
Male walruses only reach sexual maturity at the age of 4. Until then, they are almost exclusively gay. Once they've reached maturity, most males are bisexual and mate with females during breeding season - while having sex with other males the rest of the year. It's not just gay sex though - the males also embrace each other and sleep close to one another in water.
Image: imago/Nature in Stock
Sheeps' preferences
Studies suggest that up to 8 percent of males in flocks of sheep prefer other males, even when fertile females are around. However, this only occurs among domestic sheep. Studies have found that these homosexual sheep have a different brain structure than their heterosexual counterparts, and release less sex hormones.