- Title: Hundreds march in Madrid for LGBT+ rights as pride festivities cancelled
- Date: 28th June 2020
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (JUNE 28, 2020) (REUTERS) HUNDREDS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING WITH RAINBOW FLAGS AND SIGNS / CIBELES FOUNTAIN IN THE BACKGROUND MAN WEARING GYMNASTIC SUIT PERFORMING WITH PINK RIBBON AND DANCING PROTESTERS WEARING COSTUMES DANCING AS THEY MARCH PROTESTERS HOLDING SIGNS READING: "GAY, OK" PROTESTER WEARING MASK AND DRESS CHANTING (Spanish): "WE ARE IN THE FIGHT" PROTESTERS SPINNING RIBBON VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS CHANTING SLOGANS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF MADRID CRITICAL PRIDE PLATFORM, LUR BARBA, SAYING: "(Madrid) Critical Pride is claiming that there's no need of an institutionalised gay pride to go out to the streets and claim that we don't need our identity, our sexual orientation and our bodies to be commercialised. But what we need are true effective laws that defend us. Because they exclude us, we get beaten, they stigmatize us and murder us every day and nothing is done about it." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER JULIA MONTERO, SAYING: "The fact the festivities are not taking place is not that important because Critical Pride always comes out to claim. But obviously because of security issues, of people being scared of the contagion, well there are not the same number of people but that's normal. Many people aren't in Madrid, as there's no festivity, they went somewhere else." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER FROM VENEZUELA, ROBERT LABARCA, SAYING: "We are celebrating the LGBT day so that there is no more discrimination, to have equality and to stop people seeing us in an negative way and to stop the hate. We are here because this is a party, it's a way to say we are we are all the same. We are common people just like the straight people and everyone else." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MEMBER OF MADRID CRITICAL PRIDE PLATFORM, LUR BARBA, SAYING: "Firstly, the total depathologisation of trans (gender) people. We don't need to go through a medical committee to tell us what we are. We don't want to depend on two years getting hormones to be able to change our names or genre on our IDs. We want to be able to do it regardless our legal situation." HEAD OF PROTEST HOLDING BANNER READING (Spanish) "PRIDE IS PROTEST. DISSIDENCE IS RESISTANCE" PROTESTERS CHANTING (Spanish): "Women with penises, women with vagina. There are more women that you can imagine." SIGN READING (English): "BLACK TRANS LIVES MATTER" SIGN READING (Spanish): "NO MORE HOMOPHOBIC AND RACIST VIOLENCE" SIGN READING (English): "GAY OK" PROTESTER DANCING AND SPINNING RIBBON PROTESTERS MARCHING PROTESTER WEARING COSTUME PROTESTERS HOLDING SIGN READING (Spanish) "OUR REVENGE IS SURVIVING" RAINBOW FLAG AND SIGNS DURING PROTEST VARIOUS OF VAN AT HEAD OF PROTEST WITH WIND SCREEN WIPERS WITH RAINBOW COLOURS VARIOUS OF PROTEST IN PROGRESS PROTESTER DRAPED ON RAINBOW FLAG, OTHER PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING (Spanish) "OUT OF THE CLOSET THE WHOLE YEAR" MARCH IN PROGRESS SIGN FOR CHUECA METRO STATION MEN HUGGING MAN DRAPED ON RAINBOW FLAG HAVING SIP OF DRINK VARIOUS OF MEN ON BALCONY RAINBOW FLAGS HANGING FROM BALCONIES PEOPLE DRINKING AT OUTDOOR BAR PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR BARS AT CHUECA SQUARE
- Embargoed: 12th July 2020 22:08
- Keywords: LGBT protest in Madrid Spain coronavirus pandemic gay pride festivities cancelled
- Location: MADRID, SPAIN
- City: MADRID, SPAIN
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA001CKA9Z5Z
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of central Madrid on Sunday (June 28) to demand more rights and protection for the LGBT+ community as the annual gay pride festivities have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Waving rainbow flags, some wearing costumes and some dancing, members of Madrid's Critical Pride platform demanded the "depathologisation of trans people" and easing measures on officially changing one's gender.
Critical Pride demonstrators present themselves as an alternative to the original pride parades and festivals, which they consider politicised and institutionalised. The platform also calls for the non-commodification and re-politisation of gay pride.
On Sunday evening, outdoor bars at LGBT community iconic Chueca square were seen busy but nothing compared to last years when Madrid receives thousands of visitors from all over the world for the gay pride festivities.
In 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium.
A 2013 report for the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found 88% of Spaniards accepted homosexuality, making it one of the most accepting countries of the 39 polled.
(Production: Michael Gore, Miguel Gutierrez) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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