Pride Month takes place once a year for four weeks to celebrate sexual and gender diversity and send a strong signal for the rights of the queer community. On the occasion of the upcoming Berlin Pride Month, which runs from 26 June to 27 July 2025 and features a wide variety of events, representatives of the Berlin Football Association and the LSVD Queer Diversity Association Berlin-Brandenburg met on 19 June to raise the annual diversity flag at the BFV office.
"Creating a culture of respect"
"Today's flag-raising ceremony is more than just a symbol: it shows that the Berlin Football Association takes responsibility and not only tolerates queer participation in soccer, but actively strengthens it. Especially in times of social regression, we need such visible commitments," says Florian Winkler-Schwarz, Managing Director of LSVD, about the joint campaign. Alice Drouin, Head of Sport at LSVD - Competence and Coordination Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Sport, adds: "While queer people and especially trans*, inter* and non-binary people are increasingly coming under pressure in sport, the BFV is sending a strong signal: The flag in front of the association building stands for attitude, visibility and concrete steps against discrimination. As a cooperation partner, we are pleased to accompany the association in these steps on a daily basis.
The LSVD and the BFV have been working together since 2011 and this was symbolically renewed in 2022. The agreement sets out a total of seven points to jointly reduce hostility towards LGBTQIA+ people and raise awareness of gender and sexual diversity in Berlin soccer. As part of this, guidelines for gender-equitable language in the BFV as well as the right to play and training opportunities for tin* people were introduced, thereby taking on a pioneering role in German soccer. As part of the flag-raising ceremony, members of the BFV Executive Committee and the new LSVD Board came together to get to know each other and discuss further cooperation.
"Especially in the current challenging times of increasing violence against queer people and communities, it is of the utmost importance to set an example together for queer soccer players and clubs in Berlin. In any case, it is important for us as an association to promote the topic of diversity in sport in a sustainable and measurably effective way," says Özgür Özvatan, BFV Vice President for Social Responsibility, and adds: "Creating a culture of respect on Berlin's soccer pitches is our responsibility as the Berlin soccer family. Every person in TEAM BERLIN must be able to feel safe with their gender identity on and off the pitch. The Berlin Football Association will continue to work resolutely on this together with the LSVD".
All information on the topic of "Gender and sexual diversity" at the BFV
