Alternative Pride in Brussels with more activism, less political marketing

Alternative Pride in Brussels with more activism, less political marketing
Several organisations such as Reclaim the Pride will organise an alternative Pride on 18 May in Brussels, with less political marketing and more actual activism. "Political parties are marching along in Pride for their image. They want to appear progressive while taking very little (inter)national political action for LGBTQ people, or they use the theme to profile themselves against migrants," said Julien Didier from the group of organisations to Bruzz.

Resistance and political action are missing from Pride, according to Didier, and so the campaigners themselves will organise an alternative Pride to reintroduce the original revolutionary message.

They do that by marching in the main parade, as well. "We want to show how LGBTQ people suffer from repression in Brunei or Chechnya, since our political parties seem to have very little to say about it," Didier said to Bruzz. "Pride is, above all, an activist event, not a tourist one. It is about groups in society that are still forgotten today, like transgender people, migrants and sex workers," he added.

Related News: Transgender people organise alternative Pride in Brussels

Pride was born out of the Stonewall riots, which started in New York after the police raided an LGBTQ bar of the same name. The first parade was organised to commemorate the riots a year after the events. This moment of resistance, however, over the years evolved into the current festivities.

After the main Pride parade of 18 May, the organisations will organise their own march that will follow a different route. The organisation does not yet want to say what the more politically charged course will be exactly, but it will be related to the eight countries that still use the death penalty for homosexuality.

Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times


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