The ACCEPT association announces the 19th edition of Bucharest PRIDE. This year, the largest event dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community in Romania and its allies will take place between June 21-29. Under the thematic umbrella We are ready, the organizers are preparing a whole marathon of cultural and community events, part of a program that will culminate with the Bucharest Pride March, scheduled for June 29. More than 25,000 people are expected in the streets to celebrate diversity and claim the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
For the second year in a row, Bucharest Pride addresses the urgent need for legal recognition and protection of all same-sex families and will send a message from society: “We are ready. We are ready for a Romania where LGBTQIA+ people and their families are seen, recognized and protected.” The adoption of laws that respond to these real needs cannot be delayed any longer.
Despite the discouraging speech of political decision-makers, statistics show that Romanian society is, in 2024, more prepared for equality than it has ever been. According to the data published in the latest ACCEPT study, the level of support and empathy of Romanians towards LGBTQIA+ families has increased considerably in recent years. A historical majority represented by 56% of them agree with marriage or another form of legal recognition of families formed by people of the same sex – 13 percentage points more than in 2021. In addition, 72% of Romanians believe that their families would have nothing to lose if same-sex families had equal rights.
“Love is innate, hate is learned. We all know how to accept, exist, love, even if sometimes we need time to learn to show it. To ourselves, but also to others. It’s a process that a good part of society has already gone through. For some it takes longer, for others less. We call the people who have taken it upon themselves and who have remembered that it is not hatred that will help us grow together, but love and understanding towards others, allies. And we thank them. We Are Ready is about all of us: LGBTQIA+ people, our families, community allies – people who are taking steps every day towards a more welcoming, more diverse, more inclusive world. We are all, in one form or another, ready for love! We are just at different stages of accepting this fact,” emphasizes Florian-Mihail Păun, coordinator of Bucharest Pride 2024.
Bucharest Pride March: June 29
Since 2004, the LGBTQIA+ community in Romania has been taking to the streets to celebrate their identity, to make their voices heard and to claim their rights. In 2023, the LGBTQIA+ community march attracted over 25,000 people, far more than in 2022 when 15,000 participants joined the march. For 2024, the organizers predict an exponential increase in the degree of participation, as a reaction to the defiant attitude that the Government displays in relation to the needs of the LGBTQIA+ community in Romania.
Pride Park 2023: June 27-29, Izvor Park
With the first edition organized in 2021, Pride Park quickly became one of the most important outdoor cultural events organized in Bucharest. As a promoter of diversity, this festival spotlights the talents of local LGBTQIA+ artists, giving them visibility and celebrating cultural creations that embrace and represent the LGBTQIA+ community. Also, Pride Park builds a safe space for the initiatives and projects of other LGBTQIA+ organizations in Romania. Access to all Pride Park events is free. In order to build a calendar as wide as possible, inclusive and representative for the LGBTQIA+ community in Romania, Bucharest Pride organizers are launching a call for applications among artists and community project promoters.
Proposals can be sent exclusively online here.
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