Some 250,000 people participated this Saturday in the LGBT+ Pride March in Mexico City, the first after two years of suspension due to the pandemic, and which on this occasion sought to denounce violence against women of sexual diversity.
A multicolored torrent gathered for about four kilometers in Avenue Paseo de la Reformawhere the presence of numerous families with children stood out, in addition to some 200 allegorical cars that advanced to the Constitution Plaza.
The motto of the march, “The streets are ours! For a diversity free of hate, violence and machismo!”, marked the mood of many attendees who agreed that the joy of the celebration does not mean forgetting the violence and discrimination that still these groups suffer.
“It’s not just a celebration. We fight, we resist, we exist and we are resistance,” Vlexius Vultur, a 25-year-old drag queen with long iridescent hair, told AFP.
“These things that we shout and the banners that we raise are not for us, they are for the people who live in the closet, who live in this systematic, sexist violence,” he added.
Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum also participated in the demonstration, the 44th edition organized in Mexico City, who met with leaders of various groups who gave her a list of petitions demanding to maintain and expand her rights.
Through his Twitter, Sheinbaum confirmed that the influx to the march was 250,000 people. The demonstration was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to health restrictions due to the coronavirus.
The huge contingent – which included many participants in the most extravagant costumes, from gladiators to unicorns – advanced towards the Zócalo, the central square of the city, the final point of the event, where a concert was held.
“It gives me a lot of emotion (…) every time I go to the marches, I see complete families, with their children, trying to explain to them in the best way what this is. It feels very nice,” said Héctor Contreras, a businessman from 58 years old.
In the middle of the celebration, numerous spontaneous dancers exhibited their daring perreo steps on the asphalt.
Meanwhile, a group of veteran trans women, clad in bright and sequined dresses, shouted: “it looks, it feels, the grandmothers are present.”
So far, city security authorities have not reported any incident, while thousands of participants were still concentrated in the Zócalo.
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