On 28 June, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, brutally dragging customers and staff out of the venue, subjecting many of them to intimate searches, and arresting those who objected, for no other reason than they chose to exist in their safe space. The raid led to a riot, with support from every quarter, and eventually served as a catalyst for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world. The date is now recognised as Pride Day around the world, and the month of June is known as Pride Month, where the community, now correctly referred to as LGBTIQA+, can come together and be proud of who they are.
However, despite over a half a century of time, many feel that the progress achieved for the community has started a dangerous reversal, led in Spain by none other than the far-right Vox group, who are against gay relationships, to the extent that they want to revoke the same-sex marriage laws, and as we have already seen with their new collaborations with the PP, even want to banish the symbolism of the community, namely the rainbow flag.
Vox leader, Santiago Abascal, has said that he will not celebrate Pride because he is heterosexual, going on to say that “so are many homosexuals”, Vox has pledged to curtail gay pride parades, heaped ridicule on diversity lessons, and has even drawn parallels between homosexuality and bestiality, and this week claimed the rainbow flag is a symbol of paedophiles. Vox opposed a motion to prevent homophobia in sports. Despite that, Abascal has denied allegations of homophobia, stating in an interview that Vox is in no way a homophobic party and that it merely opposes “LGBT ideology”, going on to say that party membership includes many homosexuals, and that he personally has friends who are gay, almost parroting a typical, “I’m not racist, but…” mantra. It is worth noting that Vox are also against women’s rights, and immigration, amongst many other things.
It should also perhaps be noted that everything Vox wants to achieve in reversing progress is contrary to European law, but Vox are also anti-EU.
So, the gay community has nothing to worry about with Vox, according to Abascal, but then following the elections, one of the first PP and Vox agreements was in the Valencia town of Náquera, and one of their first acts to affirm the collaboration was an immediate ban on displaying rainbow flags, introduced during Pride Month. Although the Vox lead awarded himself a nice pay rise on account of him “dedicating himself fulltime” to the role, the residents objected more to the flag news, and with a PSOE led campaign, adorned as many buildings as possible with the rainbow flag, and even a hefty protests through the streets, and so although the intention may have backfired, the notion still stands, because the PP there has facilitated such hatred.
Hatred might seem like a strong word, but that is exactly what many of the community feel when they are suppressed in this way, unable to find the help and support they need, in many cases, to come to terms with a life-changing situation they find themselves in, as was the case earlier this week when a teenage trans girl took her own life. The latest victim from a branch of the community who are being particularly singled out in many ways.
It should be noted that homophobia can be classed as a hate crime in Spain, and there are currently laws to protect such offensive and threatening behaviour, but those laws seemingly don’t extend to an institutional level.
The Spanish Government is however supportive of the community, and this month has set up a dedicated helpline (028) to report hate crimes, similar to that for gender violence. The President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, wore his rainbow lapel badge with Pride during public appearances this week. The Senate and Parliament were dressed in rainbow flags, and despite their connection to Vox, even the PP headquarters flew a rainbow flag, but that is absolutely nothing more than symbolism if they continue to allow Vox to influence their actions.
Locally, now with a PP led Government team, Orihuela held a Gay Pride march on Thursday, despite the fears and concern that the coalition between PP and Vox has aroused, and even though, as a result of their welcoming of Vox, the Department of Equality-LGTBI will disappear, not forgetting they have put an anti-immigration representative in charge of the International Residents department.
Doubts about this celebration arose after the government coalition and the creation of the Department of Family, a demand of the leader of Vox Orihuela, Manuel Mestre, who before the elections had stated that “he would transform the Department of Equality-LGTBI into Family”, in his opinion, “a broader and more inclusive concept.”
It was however evident that the rainbow flags on the town hall were somewhat diminished, as the usual display was replaced by a very small, token flag on the door, rather than using the flagpoles or balconies of previous years, which was even the case under the PP.
The now opposition Socialist Group were unhappy about the lack of support, “the first episode that makes clear the lack of commitment and sensitivity to a group that has been living with uncertainty for weeks about the arrival of far-right parties in government teams”.
For the Socialists, this is a clear sign that the PP, led by Vegara, has already “yielded” to the demands of Vox. We only have a week to wait until the Moors and Christians fiesta in Orihuela, where the town hall is normally adorned with flags, to see if their action this week was specifically aimed at discriminating against a minority and persecuted group, as is likely.
In Cartagena, Vox demanded the removal of the rainbow flags from municipal buildings, stating that displaying them was unconstitutional, as only the Spanish national flag is permitted in law, although they have not raised any concerns about the other flags such as the local, regional or European flags, somewhat surprising given their anti-EU stance, nor have they raised concerns over the religious iconography that frequently appears, nor those of FC Cartagena, the local football club.
In Benidorm, one of the most gay-friendly towns on the Costa Blanca, Pride was celebrated as normal, as, like Torrevieja, Vox has not managed to infiltrate the PP.
In Crevillente, for the first time in 8 years, no rainbow flag flew on the town hall due to the objections by Vox, leading to rainbow-coloured protests. Pride continued although under a cloud, as that was organised before Vox were given the elevation by the PP.
In Elche, where another PP and Vox collaboration was agreed, Vox were not present in their Pride Day celebrations, nor did they make any kind of statement explaining their absence. The town hall did display a rainbow flag, although only for an hour and a half before it was moved.
In Torrevieja, there is a similar story, but with a darker history. The PSOE councillor, Domingo Pérez, organised Pride events in the town previously, but the celebrations of the gay community were not only suppressed by the PP historically, the PP were actively abusive. The former mayor of Torrevieja, Pedro Hernández Mateo, now a convicted criminal, who was also the mentor to the current mayor, Eduardo Dolón, actively insulted a Spanish singer, Miguel Bose, with homophobic slurs, resulting in the very popular performer cancelling his concert, and Torrevieja being branded as homophobic. The direct result being the majority of gay-centric businesses in the town closed and moved elsewhere, taking many of the residents with them, and of course taking the so-called pink pound away from Torrevieja.
The pink pound has a global value of around 4 trillion euro, quadrupling in as many years, and can be seen how it directly boosts the economy in many of the more open Spanish areas, such as Maspalomas, Ibiza, Barcelona, and even the PP-led Madrid, to name but a few, and is also indicative in terms of value by the number of mainstream brands who change their logos to include the rainbow flag during Pride Month.
Despite never speaking out to condemn the homophobia of his mentor, nor has he been seen to be supportive of the community during his time in office, the current mayor, Eduardo Dolón, did make an election promise this time to the Torrevieja Diversa LGTBIQ+ community representative group, and, so far, has made small steps to come good on that promise by allowing the resurrection of the PSOE initiative, the celebration of Torrevieja Pride, and as a senior PP politician, perhaps facing off against his party, both nationally and regionally, in doing so.
Torrevieja Pride 2023 began on Wednesday, Pride Day, with the institutional celebration in the Plaza de la Constitución where Dolón was present, along with Pablo Samper from Sueña Torrevieja, although a stronger and more supportive image would have been to have included the entire Government team.
With smaller events through the week, the main attractions are on Thursday 6 July in La Mata, with performances, starting at 7:00 p.m., by: Soberbia Malibú, Paula Muñoz, Paca Merino, La Rubio y La Calva, Largie Lubois, Anya Rose and DJ set Bimba del Bar.
Then, the main event, is on Saturday 8 July, the Great Torrevieja Pride Party 2023, which will be held on Paseo Vista Alegre, and will feature performances by: Paca Merino, Dora Helena, Goldiva, Soberbia Malibú. Lexi Legs and DJ set Bimba del Bar, starting at 7:00 p.m.
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