On Saturday, Brno saw its first LGBTQ+ Pride march for 10 years, organised by the Duha do ul!c collective. Around 350 people joined the march, which followed soon after the 15th anniversary of Brno’s first ever Pride march in 2008.
The march, aimed at asserting and defending equality and human rights for the LGBTQ+ community, started around 4pm on Saturday afternoon at Malinovskeho namesti. Protesters carrying banners and rainbow flags proceeded through the city streets, accompanied by drums.
The march took place with the support of the Brno-střed municipality, and went ahead without any issues.
According to the organisers from the Duha do ulic collective, the event was simultaneously a protest and a celebration: “This annual march that we have now revived in the streets of Brno is not only a place for expressing disagreement with the current state of society and resistance against established systems of oppression, but also an opportunity for joy, dancing, entertainment, self-expression, pride in our queer existence, expressing love and solidarity, and connecting people.”
The march in Brno, along with next month’s Pride festivities in Prague, take place in a charged atmosphere for LGBTQ+ rights in many places around the world. Not only are such issues in the news in the Czech Republic due to the ongoing discussions over the legalisation of same-sex marriage, but the rights of sexual and gender minorities are also under attack in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Russia, and the United States, among others.
