Cologne, 07/09/2019

Colorful Diversity At Christopher Street Day In Cologne

Employees of RTL Television, UFA and Arvato Systems took part in this year’s Christopher Street Day parade in Cologne with their own floats to demonstrate for diversity in society. The “be.queer” employee network presented itself at an information booth.

Last Sunday, thousands of spectators lined up along the streets to enjoy watching the colorful Christopher Street Day parade in Cologne. Numerous employees of RTL Television and of UFA and Arvato Systems were among the active participants. They took part in the parade with two floats to demonstrate for equal rights and the acceptance of the LGBTIQ community.

Actors From TV Series On the Float 

UFA and Arvato Systems joined the parade with a float (slogan: “Diversity is our daily business”). More than 100 employees from the two companies participated in the parade on foot. Additionally, the Bertelsmann employee network “be.queer” presented itself with an information booth, where all interested visitors were able to learn about the various Bertelsmann corporate divisions and their commitment to LGBTIQ employees. “We participated in the CSD parade in Cologne with our own float for the second time,” said Markus Schroth, Head of HR UFA Show & Factual and responsible for be.queer at UFA. He was responsible for organizing the participation in CSD. “Together with Arvato Systems, we are making a statement with our slogan ‘Diversity is our daily business’, and I think that’s just great. We promote diversity, equal opportunity and, above all, a non-discriminating working environment.”

The celebrities and employees of RTL Television were equipped with fashionable “diversity” tattoos, “diversity” T-shirts, bags, and 50,000 condoms. Starting at the Deutzer Bahnhof, they toured the city as “ambassadors of love” for five hours on the float and in the pedestrian group. Among them were actors from the TV shows “GZSZ”, “Unter uns” and “Alles was zählt”. In these series, homosexuality is not only self-understood and appropriately shown in everyday contexts but also has a long tradition, as RTL stated in a press release. Shows including “DSDS”, “Bauer sucht Frau” and “Let’s Dance” are also characterized by open-mindedness and diversity. Of course, RTL also reported live on the Instagram and Facebook channels of the company, the series, and the celebrities.