Let them be seen. Let their feathers be seen, their clutched hands, their firm footing on the asphalt that was so often denied them. With that spirit that wants to put shame and stigma aside, thousands of people will gather in Madrid this Saturday and, as every year, make the capital's Pride one of the biggest in the world. This time under the motto Education, Rights and Peace: Pride that Transformsthe mobilization takes to the streets in the form of a rainbow flood against the reactionary wave that focuses on LGTBI rights and shows its most vengeful side: against those who want concealment, visibility.
As every year, the large influx of people has prevented the start of the masthead, which began with the first chords of Alaska's 'Who Cares'. “I am like this, and I will continue like this, I will never change”, chant the protesters and those carrying the banner: this year, the collective activists share the space with several government representatives, among whom the Minister of Equality Ana Redondo and the Vice President and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz, but also the Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska or the head of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, as well as representatives of political parties such as the Senator of Sumar Carla Antonelli.
“We cannot rest on our laurels.” It is the best recipe Renato, a 79-year-old gay man, can think of to maintain the progress he has made. The experience allows him to say that “15 to 20 years ago we thought that everything would continue to move forward,” but he is clear that “what we see now is that this is not the case, that at any moment they can end the rights.” “We have achieved it and we will do it if we do not do it.” “We are still in the streets.” Wearing a T-shirt that reads “love is not a crime,” Renato laments the removal of flags from institutional balconies: “It is a symbol, but somehow it tells us that we have the right to be here and also with all the honor.”
Even before the march begins, the festive atmosphere, music and glitter are interwoven with political messages, as only Pride can do. The demonstrators' retinas are filled with the removal of rainbow flags from institutions by Vox and the PP, the posters of the Madrid City Council with drawings of heels and condoms or the cuts to LGBTI and trans laws by Isabel Díaz-Ayuso. A context that is part of the global offensive on collective rights all over the world.
For this reason, this year’s protest is focused on classrooms, demanding diversity education as a way to curb the growing ‘hate speech’ and to comply with the Trans Law. Because yes, many rights have been achieved and diversity and visibility are reaching great heights, but worrying data is also starting to emerge: reports of crimes based on sexual orientation or gender identity have increased by 9% in one year and 66% of LGTBI people think that prejudice and intolerance have increased in Spain over the last five years, reveals the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), who just warned of an increase in violence against the group.
An explosion of colours takes place as hundreds of people on both sides of the street watch the demonstration pass by. Laura (19) and Lucía (17) wear the rainbow in every way possible: on bracelets, painted on their faces, on the fan that helps to alleviate the heat and on the flag tied around their necks. They come from Atienza and Sigüenza (Castilla-La Mancha), they know each other from high school and it is the first time they are coming, so they wanted to dress up for the occasion and bought the rainbow items this morning, when they got off the train.
“Because visibility is important,” is the answer that Laura, who identifies as lesbian, gives as to why this couple of new friends decided to come this year. “We have always existed, but for a long time they wanted to hide it from us. “We continue here.” Lucía nods and adds: “Also, socially there is still violence and discrimination, insults, abuse… People make comments, we have experienced it, which are said half jokingly and half seriously, but they are still being made.”
“I like pears, I like apples and I go to bed with whoever I want” or “Pride is not just for the city”, the protesters sing to the rhythm of batucada. Many organizations from different parts of the country meet on the streets. This is the case of the Plural collective, from Alcázar de San Juan (Ciudad Real), to which Gonzalo, a 26-year-old transsexual young man who carries the collective’s flag, belongs. “I came because we need to be even more visible. Until recently, transgender people were hidden and only very recently have we been able to talk about ourselves”, she says.
Families, children, young people and adults march in groups or individually. Diversity is once again the characteristic sign of mobilization. Water pistols to soak your partner, a photo of the drag queen with endless heels posing for the cameras, people who have even brought chairs to watch the parade pass by. Everything fits into Pride. As the head of the march approaches Colón, where the march ends, there are still banners and people, many people, waiting to go to the starting point, Atocha. Behind them come the floats with which the attendees will dance and sing during the most festive part of the event. Max, 22 years old, enters the demonstration and remembers “the more than 60 countries” where “being part of the group is illegal”, in some cases even punishable by death. “What I see is that more and more people are normalizing hate speech, but also more people are involved”, he explains about the polarity that characterizes the Spanish context.
“Spain is a reference country in the world, although there are many rights to be won”
“Today we are here to celebrate and demand. Celebrate who we are, our identity and diversity and demand the end of hate speech and classrooms free of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia,” said Rony de la Cruz, president of COGAM, shortly before the start of the demonstration. He was followed by Uge Sangil, president of the LGTBI+ State Federation, who wanted to thank the coalition government “for not hiding the LGTBI flag in a drawer” and claimed that Pride is an “inclusive” space with the rights of people with disabilities and racial groups, people, migrants, women and other rights such as housing.
The presidents of the organizing groups were joined this year by members of the government who are leading the demonstration with them, such as Yolanda Diaz and Ana Redondo. Both have claimed the government as a “containment dam” against “the wave of the far right that wants to put us back in the closet and cut back on equality and freedom,” said Redondo, who pledged to “continue to promote rights.” For his part, Diaz directly called out PP and Vox and their “attacks against LGTBI people in many communities”: “But we have to tell them that they will not win […] “Spain is a reference country in the world, although there are many rights to be won.”
Individuals and social groups from all over the country, unions and political parties met on the Paseo del Prado in Madrid. Many also called for “the end of Israel’s genocide in Palestine”, which is the third of the main demands that the LGTBI+ State Federation and COGAM wanted to focus the demonstration on. “Peace for Palestine, long live the free Palestine, long live the free Sahara. ‘No one will put us in jail or in the closet again’,” Sangil concluded.