Gathered at Praça do Marquês, participants then moved through downtown Porto to Avenida dos Aliados where, at the end, they intended to compile contributions reflecting their concerns and positions to present to political decision-makers.
Filipe Gaspar, representing the LGBTI+ Pride March organization, elaborated on the intention to bring the community’s issues into the spotlight during the upcoming legislative election campaign and emphasized that they want some of their highlighted conditions to be seen as priorities.
“We’ve witnessed setbacks occurring under the current government, like the removal of gender identity and diversity manuals from schools. For instance, there are attempts to deem the criminalization of conversion therapies unconstitutional. There’s also been a significant increase in hate speech, which we simply cannot understand,” he stated.
In this context, the organization’s spokesperson demanded the reinstatement of manuals removed from schools and improved conditions for accessing the Public Health Service, pointing to significant delays concerning gender identity consultations. This leads him to feel that there’s inadequate investment in this area.
They are also advocating for the establishment of community centers that provide meeting spaces for these populations, foster cultural production, offer a platform for community dialogue, and encourage interaction among the public and individuals, he detailed.
Maintaining a critical stance, Filipe Gaspar lamented the lack of measures or public policies that ensure social awareness keeps pace with the growth and maturing of individuals on these issues.
“Our population exists, it is here to contribute, yet we are being pushed back by hate speech and significant attacks from the far-right,” he criticized.
During the discussion held beside posters with slogans reading “Bread and carnations,” “True freedom,” “Our right to an authentic life shouldn’t depend on a broken system,” “Queer love,” and “Health is a right, not a business,” the spokesperson explained that the “march has always been highly intersectional, touching on various situations.”
“The unification of struggles within the LGBT movement comes from the reality that, given the various challenges individuals face, they unify in this fight. Thus, housing and education struggles are also part of our fight, as we know that without specialized public policies, or at least ones considerate of our experiences, we also encounter difficulties,” he elaborated.
Filipe Gaspar then criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies for “persecuting the trans population, which constitutes 1% of the country’s populace,” also mentioning, “even in Europe, through the prohibition of movements or free demonstrations that should be of the people, as seen in Hungary,” to illustrate compounded setbacks.
“It seems as though they are trying to find scapegoats for the crisis, scapegoating queer people or the most vulnerable, like migrants,” lamented the spokesperson, faulting those who aim to “dehumanize a portion of the populace.”
Some protestors displayed Palestinian flags.
