His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar would like to congratulate the Gibraltar LGBTQ+ Committee for organizing yet another very successful PRIDE event last Saturday at Casemates.

The event started at 10:00am, there were numerous stalls from different charities, Government Departments, Agencies and Authorities present.

Among the speeches were the Chief Minister and the Minuster for Equality after speeches were delivered by the Chief Minister, Minister for Equality, and the rally was closed by the LGBTQ+ Committee Chairperson which was followed by a march up Main Street.

GBC Radio held live coverage and The event, which saw the participation of hundreds of people from both the LGBTQ+ community and their allies, ended late in the evening.

The overriding theme of the event was “Acceptance and not Tolerance”. This highlighted the general sentiment from the LGBTQ+ Committee, and was clear from the speeches, that at this juncture in time, tolerance is not good enough and acceptance is what needs to be achieved.

Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento MP, said: “I was extremely pleased with this year’s PRIDE event, to see people being able to express themselves freely and with good use of imagination and colour. It was also good to see support from people from other countries taking part this year. This reflects Gibraltar’s multi-cultural and inclusive society and shows us to be an open and free society. I would like to convey my gratitude to everyone who took part in the event for attending and making it such a success and especially to the LGBTQ+ Committee and everyone else who was involved in its organisation.”

The Chief Minister, the Hon Fabian Picardo KC MP, said: “Our aim has always been to enable individuals in our society to express themselves freely and show affection without fear of any recrimination. Unfortunately, we are not quite there yet, as can be seen from some online comments from a minority. This shows why PRIDE month is still required. We need to remind some people that LGBTQ+ community exists and are welcome to be themselves.”