Flying the flag for Geneva! ©MBevan - July 2011
(Blogmensgo, July 7, 2011) Geneva Pride, aptly titled ‘Pride 2011’ drew in nearly
©MBevan 2011
10,000 people on July 2, 2011. The police state a different figure of 1000, but having been there myself, I can vouch that it was closer to the 10,000 mark! The parade started at Quai Wilson, went over the Mont Blanc bridge and travelled through the city centre finishing in the beautiful ‘Des Bastions’ a former Botanical gardens which is now a large park.
For the afternoon, the park hosted a number of stands including: Magic Radio, H20 Swimming club, VoGay, LesTime and the Pink Cross amongst many others…a stage was set up in the park which provided entertainment and dancing. The party went on in the park until about 11pm and then followed on with a party in the Stade de Genéve until 5am!
©MBevan 2011
Marjorie Blanchet, one of the organisers of pride, stated that it’s main theme would be ‘less visual and more political, it will look for vindication’ of the gay rights movement. The slogan of the 2011 parade was ‘We have equal duties, We want equal rights’. (Information obtained from Geneva Living.
The problem is homophobia, not homosexuality ©MBevan 2011
Pride marchers demanded enactment of a law against homophobia in Switzerland, a country where there are very few openly gay workers in finance, banking and public sectors. The banner in French says ‘The problem is homophobia, not homosexuality’.
Equal rights was at the heart of the procession without any commercial gains. The same equal rights demanded for homosexual as heterosexual couples, at the moment the PACS (Civil partnership) has certain exceptions such as no rights to adopt children, no right to take on the partners surname and no rights to IVF.
Just Married! ©MBevan 2011
The third request was to maintain human dignity, to bring an end to the practice of forcing transgendered people to be sterilized before being officially recognised by their status. For a country that sets the standards for human rights around the world, the marchers were not asking for much it seems!
Jura Pride 2012 ©MBevan 2011
The last pride in Geneva was in 2008. There does not seem to be any information out there yet for Pride 2012 but Jura have announced theirs for June 30th, 2012, being a relatively small place, I am sure they will need our support and there is plenty of time for you to plan ahead and maybe integrate it into your next years holidays!
The next pride event I will be reporting from will be Manchester, UK at the end of August where they are celebrating their 21st Birthday! Watch this space! in the meantime….watch this video!
This article has been written with some information from our french blog. To read the article written by Philca in French click here.
Matt / MensGo
