“Once… I was called by name. I could introduce myself without hesitation, show my personality wherever I wanted, and be addressed with the correct pronouns and gender words.“.

This is how the main text on his site begins Athenian pride and that was the dominant feeling that most people had. Kotsia squareat noon on Saturday.

The attic sky may have been covered with a thick gray cloud, but on the spacious square there were many color and freedom. The streets were closed from early noon and the demonstration did not stop until 19:00, when the parade began and thousands of people reached Syntagma Square.

Tourists passing by on their way to Monastiraki stopped and took pictures, and people formed small wells around the various stalls that lined the perimeter of the square opposite the Athenian City Hall.

The center was dominated by a stage where, after 17:00, the participating organizations rose one by one to send their own message.

The representative of the organization got up first”Proud seniors‘, which involves people from the community aged 50+.

“I want us to be visible at any age,” he said.

A little later, at their booth, the band members hug and take pictures. The group was founded in 2015 and, as they say, “we are the first group that has self-organized in Greece, focusing solely on a specific goal.”

A little bit later “Proud Parents“, whose representatives shouted to applause: “Live, let yourself live” And “we are your parents and we love you unconditionally“.

There was a colorful hive of people around – approx. 200 volunteers politely resolved all issues, and at the stands of organizations, parties, brands and institutions you were greeted with smiles.

In his booth Volt we met a famous activist Grigori Vallianatowho has been actively involved in efforts to bring visibility and rights to the LGBTI+ community for many years.

In a conversation with him, he recalls that Pride is about the celebration of the uprising in New York and notes: “There are a lot of us, every day there are more of us, but we are not visible, because we are forced to straighten up, distort, and not express myself”.

“This day represents freedom, and freedom does not fit into the framework. From there, we can continue the hypocrisy in the coming days,” he stressed, adding: “What has changed over the years? Today the demands are higher, we no longer tolerate any discrimination. We should be optimists, populism and the right are on the rise, but there are many of us.”

A few meters down, in the Pride store, we meet her Andrea Gilbertwhich is one of the founders of the Athens Pride, which started – in its current form – 2005.

From the very beginning, she expresses her dissatisfaction with the fact that they would prefer it to take place in Syntagma Square, and not in Kotzia. “It’s different against the backdrop of parliament,” he says pointedly, emphasizing the progress made over the years. In 2005 they took part in the parade 500 peoplelast year there were several tens of thousands.

I ask what is the biggest difference he sees over the years to note that they are now participating many small children with their families. “It’s a joyful occasion, new kids come and support their LGBTI+ friends and classmates,” he says, and ends with the message: “Everyone must come together to end discrimination and transfer rights.”

Near his booth colorful schoolThe organization, which began in 2009 as an LGBTQI teacher empowerment group, has gradually taken the form of an organized activist group with the goal of demanding institutional changes for more inclusive schools.

Walking through the stands, you can easily understand how diverse groups of peopleWith alien perception at their coreparticipate in the Pride, but with the same goal.

Near “Diplomats for Athenian Pride“, located rebellionright after international amnestykiosk with refugees who belong to the LGBTI community and Union of Atheists. Are they related? Yes…

Speaking with “K”, people in pavilion of atheistssaid: “We participate in the pride, arguing that religion hinders human rights, including LGBTI people.”

The Atheist Union has been continuously involved since 2014, and its representative emphasizes: “Religion in Greece is an agent of conservatism and oppression towards other people. That’s why we’re here.”

In front of her booth Greenpeace there is one globe with colorful heels on the top. A well-known environmental organization participates in the pride for the second year in a row and, as K was told, “advocates for the rights of the planet and all creatures on the planet, such as people of the LGBTI community.”

“The climate crisis affects the marginalized groups first and always the fastest, so we must support them as actively as possible. Rights are a chain,” they added.

There is another well-known and international organization there: “Doctors of the world“, who told “K” that they were early on the site with an information stand, but also with a screen on the opposite sidewalk, where they kept – for everyone – tests for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Standing in the corner opposite Atlas teamto support LGBTI+ immigrants and refugees, which they told us is “a program designed to give them a safe space to express themselves, meet each other and seek support.”

A few meters to the right was the stand of the company “Lesbian group Thessaloniki“, a group of women who, since 2009, have created this organization for the “need to communicate and exchange views.”

When asked why you are here today, they answer wittily and with humor: “To see our Athenian friends, because we are from Thessaloniki.”

At the other end of the square his stand Sex Worker Empowerment Network.

DES President, Christ Sagredosin an interview with “K” said that their goals “are to empower and support people who have sex”, as well as “combat the stigma associated with this type of work and protect their human rights.”

Availability political parties. He had a big rack PASOKwho also designed special flags for the day with the traditional image of the sun in the colors of the rainbow.

Secretary of the Human Rights Sector, Anna Papadopoulos, speaking to K, said, “PASOK has always supported the rights of the LGBTI+ community. It is important for us to protect and promote the principles of equality and freedom while respecting human dignity. As our President Nikos Androulakis noted, we support civil marriage and want to have an open dialogue with representatives of the LGBTI community, discuss all issues that concern them and are not limited to civil marriage.”

And from the center left, a few meters down the left, with the coordinator of the LGBTI+ group SYRIZA, Vangelis Skufato say “K”: “Today is a day of celebration that for us marks the ongoing struggle for the visibility of the existence of LGBTI + people, love without borders, equality without exceptions, freedom, diversity and rights. Thus, it is a given for another year, our presence at the great celebration of the pride of Athens Pride with our central slogan: “Love without limits, equality without exclusion, a just society without discrimination.” Everything for everyone!” simultaneously carrying with it the baggage of timeless claims, ways of individual and collective resistance, disobedience to the sad monochrome of obscurantism.

“As long as dignity is hurt, as long as racism and LGBTI+phobia spread the poison of hatred, as long as people don’t have the same rights, the only answer should be ‘nothing less than full equality, full equality everywhere’,” he said and added that SYRIZA presented “ legislative proposal for the equality of marriage with full and equal rights.

And in the middle two liberal parties: From “liberal allianceWe were stressed that “as a party, we defend the rights and freedoms of the individual. We stand firmly for civil marriage for all, equality in childbearing and assisted reproduction, bodily self-determination and self-determination. And as today’s slogan says, we also say that we once fought for these rights.”

F.S. he took part in the May elections, but will not be included in the June ones.

“Green and purple» follows the reverse route: O Odysseus Neslekhanidis from Volt, in an interview with K, said that “human rights are our pan-European code of laws. We are a pan-European party that strives for a federalization of Europe based on common values ​​and with an agenda that will benefit Europe as a whole. We are participating to demonstrate and demand equal treatment before the law.”