During Pride, “the lgbtqia+ community draws all the attention and the streets of Brussels are dressed in rainbow colours,” the organization says in a press release. For this 26th edition, the organization chose ‘Protect the Protest’ as the theme. That is a slogan with which Amnesty International supports the right to protest in regimes that suppress demonstrations. According to the Observatory of Inequality, homosexuality is banned in 69 countries. Eleven of them carry the death penalty for homosexual relationships.
With the Brussels Pride, the capital opens the European Pride season. “150,000 people will defend their rights and celebrate diversity in Brussels. This year, more than ever, the aim is to ensure that the fundamental rights of the LGBTQIA+ community are upheld.” Last year, Pride was able to take place again for the first time after a two-year postponement due to corona. Then more than 120,000 participants descended on the capital.
Various actions have already taken place in recent weeks, such as the Mini-Pride, exhibitions in the museums and buildings that were illuminated in the colors of the rainbow flag. Even today, many associations and institutions are present. They come to inform the public about the struggle of the lgbtqia+ community at home and abroad. Traditionally, the Pride Village has been set up on the Mont des Arts for this purpose. Two stages have also been set up in the city center for the LGBTQIA+ artists. A total of about a hundred partners, associations and artists will take part in the event in the streets of Brussels.
This edition is also dedicated to the 20th anniversary of same-sex marriage in our country. With its legalization on 1 June 2003, Belgium became the second country worldwide to legalize same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands.
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