Africa-Press – Cape verde. The LGBTI+ community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transsexual and intersex population) in the city of Praia promoted, on Saturday morning, the “LGBTI+ Pride 2022” march against discrimination and for the right to exist.
The event, which mobilized around a hundred people who traveled through the center of the capital, also paid tribute to the artist G-cross, found dead on Gamboa beach.
The march of “Pride LGBTI+ 2022,” which took place under the motto “Embrace Diversity with Education and Respect” took to the streets of the country’s capital colors of the rainbow and was attended by the president of the Cabo Verdean Institute for Equality and Gender Equity (ICIEG), Marisa Carvalho, and the National Commission for Human Rights and Citizenship (CNDHC), Zaida Freitas.
In statements to the press, the organizer of the march and president of the LGBTI+ Association of Praia, Sandra Tavares, said that the march is important, because what we want is for all people to be free and live their lives without any discrimination.
“The objective is to make people aware that we all have the same rights and duties to be in society, regardless of sexual orientation or LGBTI+ identity”, he said, hoping to move society towards effective and equal diversity for all.
Disrespect for the LGBTI+ community
Sandra Tavares also underlined that the motto “Embrace Diversity with Education and Respect” is intended to draw people’s attention to the disrespect that the LGBTI+ community has been targeted on social media in Cape Verde.
“If we educate our children to respect citizenship in diversity, we will have children and human beings in the future who will respect all types of sexual conduct”, he added.
As for the existing laws to protect the LGBTI+ community, the person in charge of the association assured that, in the past five years, a lot has changed, despite recognizing that much remains to be done for the community.
More government engagement
In terms of laws, he stressed that the Government should bet “strongly” on engagement with the community to find out what the main need is and then start the “change that is wanted”.
Education, employment and health were pointed out by Sandra Tavares as the main needs of the LGBTI+ community in Cape Verde, particularly in Praia, where people see the community with bad eyes.
“If we embrace and respect the LGBTI+ community, the population will begin to see us with different eyes and the treatment will be different”, he said, maintaining that the path and requirements to be followed today may not be those of tomorrow.
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