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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally pose in front of the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally march through the city center in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally meet in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally march through the city center in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally march through the city center in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally meet in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally pose in front of the Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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A participant of the Cologne Pride rally is pictured in a wheel chair in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally march through the city center in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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North Rhine-Westphalia minister president Hendrik Wuest, center, and Cologne Mayer Henriette Reker, right, giving a speech on a float at the opening of the Cologne Pride rally in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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A participant of the Cologne Pride rally is pictured with a red rose in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally are pictured in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Scott and Brad from Australia meet as participants of the Cologne Pride rally in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally meet in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

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Participants of the Cologne Pride rally celebrate in Cologne, Germany, Sunday, July 3, 2022. This year's Christopher Street Day (CSD) Gay Parade with thousands of demonstrators for LGBTQ rights is the first after the coronavirus pandemic to be followed by hundreds of thousands of spectators in the streets of Cologne. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Cologne's Pride parade draws upwards of 1 million in Germany

By Associated Press AP

PUBLISHED 11:27 AM ET Jul. 03, 2022

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Around 1 million people turned out for the Pride parade in the western German city of Cologne on Sunday, either to participate or to watch the colorful festivities.

Around 180 LGBTQ groups and music floats took part in the parade through the city center — more than ever before, German news agency dpa reported. Organizers said about 1.2 million visitors attended the celebrations, while the police estimated the crowd at around 1 million.

With the parade, Cologne is sending “a strong signal for diversity, for tolerance, against hate and against exclusion,” said Hendrik Wuest, the first governor from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Cologne is based, to attend the city's parade in its roughly 30-year history, dpa reported.

Cologne has one of the biggest LGBTQ communities in the country.

“Everywhere in the world, unfortunately also in Germany, there are extremists are at work who do not want to grant us our freedom,” said Sven Lehmann, the German government’s commissioner for the acceptance of sexual and gender diversity. “The strong signal from Cologne is: We will never let them take away this freedom.”

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