Gay Pride Lisboa / Lisbon on 24 June

Saturday June, 24, is Gay pride in Lisbon Portugal. June and July are Gay pride months throughout the world. Most gay prides start in May and continue through September. Now the time has come for the biggest portuguese Gay parade. The National Gay and Lesbian Pride March wil take place in Lisbon, starting from Sq Marquês de Pombal at 15.00, through Avenida da Liberdade down to Rossio. It will be followed by a party (called “Arraial pride”) from 18.00 to 2.00 at Praça da Figueira (Rossio) in downtown Lisbon. The theme for 2006 (MANIFESTO 2006) is “priority to equal rights in law and society” (Prioridade à igualdade na Lei e na sociedade). After Spain gay community got marriage last year the portuguese associations also started to request the issue to be dealt by the Parliament. Due to the internal political agenda this issue will probably not be discussed before a couple of years and certainly not before abortion finally gets through. Some people argue that portuguese society is not yet mature for gay marriage, however that is an excuse from right wing parties.

Gay prides in Lisbon do not have a long tradition, some ten years maximum and they do not usually attract big crowds. The parties however attract already more people (yes, the portuguese prefer to party instead of demonstrating and engaging politically…). In the previous years (under previous right wing city Government) the Gay party (Arraial) had even been transferred to an isolated park, of difficult accessibility. This year it’s the first time it will take place downtown. Remains to be seen if that works or whether the portuguese will prefer to remain in front of their TV sets watching World cup games...

In any case Lisbon’s pride will not be competing with other more mature marches throughout Europe such as those from Madrid, Paris, Cologne, Berlin, London not to mention north American ones and that of S. Paulo in Brasil. However Lisbon has been able to attract a growing gay crowd, as tourism destination, since the end of the nineties. And it could do much better, would the authorities understand the importance of that market segment…

A bit of history

It all started in June 1969, when a group of gay/ queer people rioted following a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. The Stonewall riots are generally considered as the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, as it was the first time in modern history that a significant body of LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people resisted arrest. These marches were repeated in the following years, and over the years similar marches began to be held in other cities in the US and later in Europe and other places throughout the world. The marches became known as Gay Pride marches.

The gay pride marches of the gay rights movement have basically three main premises: that people should be proud of what they are, that sexual diversity is a gift, and that sexual orientation and gender identity are inherent, natural, and cannot be intentionally altered. Most marches have turned into Carnival-like parades where political issues and themes have become nearly secondary but this varies from place to place and in any case the objective is to celebrate diversity and the right to live freely each one’s sexual orientation!

Lately in many places “Gay prides” and celebrations around them, have turned into a profitable business, as has “gay tourism”. With time, the travel and tourism industry have become aware of the substantial money generated by this marketing "niche", and have explored the new market together with the gay community and gay tourism campaigns. As a tourism industry it has some maturity in some countries, and includes travel agents, tour companies, cruise lines and travel advertising and promotions companies who market certain destinations to gays. Many local governments in many cities have understood the importance of this business and have helped tourist agents do the job. Cities like Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, New York, S. Francisco, Buenos Aires or Sidney were been able to attract important shares of gay tourism as well as some beach resorts like Mykonos, Sitges, Ibiza, Miami, Rio, etc. According to Tourism Intelligence International (2000), some 10% of international tourists are gay or lesbians, accounting for more than 70 million arrivals worldwide. This important market segment is continuing to grow as a result of a change in world-wide attitudes to homosexuality. American gay and lesbian tourists alone are estimated to generate $54.1 bn a year— more than 10% of the total US travel industry.

The Gay Prides

So from May through September, most major cities (and other smaller in many countries like France, the UK, the US and Germany) host their gay prides, parades, marches, etc. In Europe there is a “Europride” hosted by a different European city each year. In 2006 it will be hosted by London on Saturday, July 1. Europride 2007 will be hosted by Madrid and Europride 2008 will be hosted by Stockholm (Sweden). They’re usually hosted in very friendly and open cities.

This year we already saw Moscow’s Pride being banned by the city’s conservative mayor (see previous article in the blog) - last 27 May - and demonstrators being beaten by extreme right people. The “Equality Days” also took place in Warsaw last 9-11 June. It only had some 3,000 participants (and was supported by many people coming from other european countries) and around 2,000 police forces to prevent clashes. In Cologne it will take place on 16th July 2006, in Brasil’s S. Paulo, last 17 of June, gathering some 3 million people! This year’s Theme was “Homophobia is a crime! Sexual rights are Human rights” (Homofobia é Crime! Direitos Sexuais são Direitos Humanos).
Gathering so many millions is only possible in the country of Carnival! But another carnival city – Cologne – also attracts a big crowd and the Gay pride is part of the city’s yearly festivity calendar! To attract a corresponding crowd (some 17% of the city's population), Lisbon would have to attract some 250,000 people next saturday... but of course that's dreaming...

So what are you waiting for? Check your local low-cost flights and/or HST connections and head to the nearest Pride! And you’re still on time to come to Lisbon, where you’ll also be able to discover a welcoming warm city offering a nice climate, beachlife, culture and entertainment for all tastes and purses!

[versão em português segue dentro de momentos...]