The colors of the rainbow spread, leaping from building to building and city to city, first across Germany and then out into the rest of Europe. On Wednesday evening, what might have been a lone statement — a single message of love and defiance — turned into a bright and silent chorus.
That night, Germany was scheduled to host Hungary in Munich for a crucial game in this summer’s European soccer championship. City officials had asked UEFA, the competition’s organizer, for permission to light the stadium — the Fussball-Arena Munich, more commonly known as Allianz Arena, in the rainbow colors of the Pride flag.