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Pride Parade in Caracas

No big corporate sponsors or elaborate floats in Venezuela's annual Pride Parade, just thousands of energetic youth adorned with colors and calling for LGBTQ rights.
Katrina Kozarek
Younger generations filled this year's Pride March
Younger generations filled this year's Pride March

On Sunday, June 30, the LGBTQ community gathered in Caracas to celebrate the 19th Annual Pride Parade. Young people from the barrio were, by far, the majority in this year’s celebration. They gathered, by the thousands, with home-made costumes and props, body paint and rainbow flags to sing, embrace, kiss and dance their way from Parque del Este to the party held in Zona Rental in central Caracas.

There were no private funders for this Pride Parade, but no one lamented the lack of corporate-sponsored spectacles and floats or expensive food and alcohol stands.

Pride March organizers also gathered signatures to demand that the National Constituent Assembly promote legislation to guarantee gender identity rights, parental rights for same-sex parents, and the inclusion of the LGBTQI in social programs and policies. 

Younger generations filled this year's Pride March
Younger generations filled this year’s Pride March
"If you read this, you are gay..."
Young marchers hold a sign stating “If you read this, you are gay…”
Lesbian and gay parents continue to fight for same sex parental rights...
"Your expectations of what is normal are not my fault."
Creative Expressions
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Identity rights for trans community was at the top of the list of demands this year.
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Revolutionary cultural collective
LGBTI youth are all about being
The Pride March provided a safe space for LGBTQI couple to show affection.
Homophobic violence is still deeply seeded in Venezuelan culture and institutions, but the Pride March provided a safe space for LGBTI couples to display affection.
A mother expresses support for her lesbian daughter.
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LGBTI community is also proud to be Venezuelan
A young couple offer
The budget may have been small, but colors and creativity abounded in the Pride March
Although the Pride March does not belong to any specific political tendencies, some marchers identified as members of the Venezuelan United Socialist Party (PSUV).
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Trans men from the collective TRANSgresoras marched shirtless in defiance of bianary gender norms.
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Heterosexual allies expressed their support for the for the LGBTQI community.
Lesbian couple expresses their love in Pride March
The Pride March organizers expressed that this years demands include gender identity rights, parental rights for same sex couples and inclusion in social programs and policies.
Ronny Ortega was honored in the Pride March. Ronny was a trans activist and the first trans woman elected Deputy of the Legislative Council of Aragua state. She died in an accident last February.
Thousands gathered in Zona Rental for the Pride celebration.
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An artist impersonating Celia Cruz lead the crowd in a rendition of
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Pride organizers collected signatures demanding gender identity rights, parental rights for same sex parents and social inclusion.
The Pride March streched over 6 blocks of the Av. Francisco Solano López
"I didn't know that loving and being yourself was a crime. Say no to homophobia!"
Rainbow colors filled the streets of Caracas this Sunday.
Marchers join in a collective embrace to show that
The organization Venezuela Igualitaria leads the legal battle for marriage rights for the LGBTQI community.
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Many sang and danced their way to the end of the march to blaring mixture of Reggaeton, Venezuelan drums, Trance, and Electronica.

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