Pride Parade in Caracas

On Sunday, June 30, the LGBTQ community gathered in Caracas to celebrate the 19th Annual Pride Parade. Young people from the barrio were, by far, the majority in this year’s celebration. They gathered, by the thousands, with home-made costumes and props, body paint and rainbow flags to sing, embrace, kiss and dance their way from Parque del Este to the party held in Zona Rental in central Caracas.

There were no private funders for this Pride Parade, but no one lamented the lack of corporate-sponsored spectacles and floats or expensive food and alcohol stands.

Pride March organizers also gathered signatures to demand that the National Constituent Assembly promote legislation to guarantee gender identity rights, parental rights for same-sex parents, and the inclusion of the LGBTQI in social programs and policies.