Azores Pride 2023 will organize several initiatives to “celebrate diversity” between July 10 and 15 in Ponta Delgada, including a LGBTI+ pride march on the last day of the event, the organization revealed today.
“Our fundamental goals are to promote dialogue and visibility of LGBTQI+ issues and to put on the public agenda the issues that continue to concern the community, from discrimination to school bullying, from hate crimes to the defense of social rights,” said Joana Moreira, from the organization.
The activist was speaking at the public presentation of Azores Pride 2023, which took place at Espaço Vaga, located in the Calheta area, in Ponta Delgada, São Miguel island, in the Azores.
Joana Moreira, a nurse and psychologist, who belongs to the support center for the LGBTI population (A)MAR, explained that the event intends to “unite the community”, allowing the “region to assume itself as a safe place”.
According to him, the goal is to “create safe places in the archipelago, mapping public spaces that promote diversity and inclusion.
“Azores Pride 2023 assumes itself as a city event and positions Ponta Delgada in the list of world cities that condemn discrimination and celebrate the diversity of their communities,” he said.
The organizing committee of the event is made up of the associations As Cores dos Açores, Rede Ex Aequo, Anda&Fala – Associação Cultural, Associação Planeamento Familiar, (A)MAR – Açores Pela Diversidade, Umar Açores, Amnesty International São Miguel, Atelineiras and Azores LGBT.
The event schedule includes a LGBTI+ pride march, scheduled for July 15, starting at 5 p.m. in the Padre Sena Freitas garden and ending at Rua do Aljube, in downtown Ponta Delgada.
The town councilor of Ponta Delgada (PSD), Cristina Canto Tavares, pointed out that the town council sees the event “not as a political flag”, but as “a way to look at the other as an equal”.
“More than the financial protocol, we are there for the values that define us, which are the values of humanism, equality, and human rights,” he pointed out.
The councilwoman in charge of Social Inclusion emphasized that the event “is not just a parade”, but rather a “set of activities” that “appeal to the presence of families”.
“I wish that one day these causes would no longer be a priority. It would mean that society had advanced to a level of greater humanism and less discrimination,” he pointed out.
The event will kick off on July 10, at 7:00 PM, with a performance at the Mártires da Pátria Garden, followed on July 11 by a “Queer Generations Conversation” at the Cagarra space, at 9:00 PM.
On July 12 the film Corpolitíca, by Pedro Henrique França, will be shown at Studio 13, and on the following day Odete Vaga will perform at a dinner.
A poster workshop is scheduled for July 14, and on July 15, the day of the LGBTI+ pride march, there will be an arraial on Aljube street.