The Wild Reed: Worldwide Gay Pride 2017

Friday, August 25, 2017

Worldwide Gay Pride 2017

It's somewhat of a tradition at The Wild Reed to share at the end of summer images of LGBTQI+ Pride celebrations from around the world. (This year's post also concludes my 2017 Queer Appreciation series, one which starts here.)

So without further ado, let's get started! . . .

Above and below: People participate in the San Francisco Pride parade in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017. (Photos: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

Writes Josh Jackman about San Francisco's "celebration and protest":

Thousands attended San Francisco Pride this weekend – to celebrate, but also to demonstrate.

Revellers gathered for the 2017 parade voiced their opposition to Donald Trump, police brutality, a lack of gun control laws, and more. Signs promoting the Black Lives Matter campaign and condemning Trump – while also making fun of him, of course – were nearly ubiquitous.

. . . Joseph Amster, who conducts walking tours of San Francisco, warned: “[Pride] is not just fun, it’s a commemoration of the day gay people fought back. If we all forget that, we will be oppressed again.”

The city’s Mayor Ed Lee told the crowd: “We cannot let hate win,” while San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy said it was vital those marching sent a strong message to Washington DC. “We need to show our reactions to how so many people and things are under assault now – healthcare is under assault; Muslims are under assault; trans kids are under assault. We are like the frog in the slowly boiling pot of water. We have to take action.”

For previous Wild Reed posts on the activist heart of Pride, click here, here, and here.

Above: Pride celebrations in Guatemala City, Guatemala – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Monodel Espacio)

In sharing this image, the Perhaps You Need a Little Guatemala Facebook page wrote: "We support the LGBT community in their struggle for equal rights because it is fair. Because love is love."

Above: In India members of the LGBTQI+ community take part in the Chennai Pride parade, calling for freedom from discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images)

Above and left: Participants in the 47th annual Pride celebration in Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.A. – June 2017. (Photo 1: IowaPipe. Photo 2: Photographer unknown)

Notes Iowa City Pride on its website:

Diversity is both important and essential to the community and environment with Iowa City Pride. Diversity is central to our mission as leaders in the Iowa City GLBTQIA+ community. Iowa City Pride embraces our responsibility to create a welcoming environment for all members of the community, including persons of all races, underrepresented persons; persons with disabilities; men, women, straight, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons. We are a place where everyone is welcome and we strive to be inclusive in all of our events.

If you can get past the atrociously condescending headline, more images of Iowa City Pride can be found in this photo gallery put together by The Advocate.

Above: In South Africa members of the LGBTQI+ community take part in the annual Pride parade, part of the three-day Durban Pride Festival – June 24, 2017. (Photo: Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)

Above: Pride march in Kyiv, Ukraine – June 18, 2017. (Photo: Genya Savilov/Getty Images)

Writes journalist Pavel Polityuk:

Ukrainian politicians and foreign diplomats joined thousands marching for gay pride in Kiev on Sunday, carrying banners and waving rainbow and Ukrainian flags in a parade flanked by a thick cordon of helmeted police.

Some supporters of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights see progress in Ukraine as symptomatic of the country’s closer integration with the European Union and rejection of its ties with neighboring Russia.

Sunday’s march was largely incident-free, although around 200 people protested, variously calling it an affront to traditional values and to soldiers fighting pro-Russian separatist rebels in the eastern Donbass region.

Ukrainian authorities have increased their support for gay rights since a pro-Western government took power following the Maidan protests in 2014. In 2015, a law was passed banning workplace discrimination against the LGBT community.

But critics say homophobic attitudes remain widespread.

Above: A "Pink Picnic" at a Pride celebration in Shanghai, China. (Photo: Linda Li)

Above: Two men celebrate Pride at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo: Daniel Pearlman)

Above: In Romania a group of young people takes part in the Bucharest Pride march on May 20, 2017. Around 2,000 people gathered to celebrate diversity and to express their support for LGBTQI rights. (Photo: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)

Above: The second annual Big Gay Iftaar in London, England – June 24, 2017. (Photo: Twitter/@rajmeena)

Writes Michaela Morgan of SBS about this event:

The Big Gay Iftaar first took place in London last year in response to the Orlando shooting as a way of bringing communities together.

Now in its second year, the multi-faith LGBT+ event took place over the weekend as part of London Pride celebrations, with people from different backgrounds and sexual identities coming together to share a meal together during Ramadan.

“The intention is to get back to basics and talk to one another, learn about each others' faiths, cultures and sexualities and spread some love that is so sorely needed in the world,” according to the event’s website.

. . . The event also raised money for the Finnsbury Park Mosque – which was recently the target of an Islamaphobic attack.

Above: The 48th Pride celebration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017 (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images)

Above: A couple wrapped in a rainbow flag kiss each other during the Pride parade in Lisbon, Portugal – June 17, 2017. (Photo: Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images)

Above: Church Ladies for Gay Rights participate in the San Francisco, U.S.A. Pride parade – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

Above: A reveller takes part in the Gay Pride Parade in San Jose, U.S.A. – June 25, 2017. (Photo: Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images)

Above and right: Members of the Sistagirls, a group of 30 Indigenous transgender women who travelled to the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia from the Tiwi Islands for the first time to share their story of resilience and finally acceptance in their community. (Photo: Twitter: @mrbenjaminlaw)

Notes Neda Vanovac, "The group spent several months crowdfunding so they could afford to strut their stuff down [Sydney's] Oxford Street and show off their unique blend of LGBTIQ and Tiwi culture."

Above and below: More attendees at Sydney's Gay Mardi Gras – Saturday, March 4, 2017.

Writes Hannah Ryan of the Illawarra Mercury:

As 178 floats assembled near Hyde Park and excited revellers made the final touches to their bright, feathered and stiletto-ed outfits, Sydney was ready to party.

Thanks to spectacular weather, the 38th annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras was especially dazzling, with glitter and sequins reflecting a radiant sun.

Thousands lined the streets and looked on from balconies above Oxford Street, waiting excitedly for the revving motors of Dykes on Bikes to signal the official start of festivities.

The dulcet tones of the Village People, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga could be heard floating over Hyde Park.

And when the 12,500 participants finally did come skipping, dancing and rolling down Oxford St, the full spectrum of queer diversity was on display as firefighters danced to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," rainbow families followed a Gayby Baby float, and both ends of the political spectrum made their colourful statement on the famous strip.

For photos and commentary of my experience of the 2015 Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, click here.

For recent posts on the state of marriage equality in Australia, click here and here.

Above: A Pride celebration in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo:Bernardo Montoya/AFP/Getty Images)

Above: A colorful couple at New York's Pride celebration – June 25, 2017. (Photographer unknown)

Above and right: People taking part in the Pride parade in Paris, France – June 24, 2017. (Photo 1: Jacques Demarthon/ AFP/Getty Images. Photo 2: Photographer unknown)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first Pride march in the French capital.

Above: A woman is arrested by police after gathering to support the LGBT Pride March on June 25, 2017 in Istanbul, Turkey. The 2017 Pride march was banned by authorities for the third year. Organizers defied the order and people attempted to march to Taksim Square but were met by a heavy police presence. The crowd was dispersed by tear gas and several people were arrested.

Above: Madrid's Pride celebration, which, say the organizers, "showcases Spain’s diverse, tolerant and welcoming attitude." . . . Mmm, except if you're a bull, that is!

Above: Vita Cleveland leads a chant during a protest that took place during the 2017 Pride parade in Chicago, U.S.A. (Photo: DNAinfo/Ariel Cheung)

Writes Ariel Cheung about this protest:

Amid the exuberant cheers and waving of rainbow flags to celebrate the brightest aspects of gay pride, some of the community's uglier history is lost in the background, activists said.

On Sunday, a collective of trans and queer people of color shut down the Chicago Pride Parade at Belmont and Halsted to remind people of that history – and demand better for the future.

Nearly 40 protesters marched between the WGN floats and the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches in the second leg of the parade, which began at noon Sunday at Montrose and Broadway and finished just after 4 p.m. at Diversey and Sheridan Road.

But for nearly 15 minutes, the coalition – filled with members of the Black Transgender Gender Non-Conforming Collective, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace, Assata's Daughters and Pilsen Alliance – chanted explicative-laced insults toward police officers and Donald Trump and denounced LGBTQ organizations they said overlook marginalized people within the community.

"The rainbow masquerade is not enough," Vita Cleveland declared into a megaphone, fellow protesters echoing them. Later, Toni Marie Preston cried out in a hoarse voice that, "Black trans lives matter."

. . . The collective published a statement to better outline its mission and its opposition to "the ever-increasing corporatization, whitewashing, gentrification, racism and cisnormativity that have infused Pride for decades."