Cape Town’s pride march is something that all members of the LGBTQIA community look forward to each year – it is an opportunity to celebrate themselves and the community, as well as continue the fight for equality and challenge the prejudices often perpetuated.
The march itself attracts thousands to the city, but many concerns have been raised that the demographics the march displays does not accurately reflect the make up of Cape Town’s community, nor that of the Western Cape at large.
To combat these concerns, Cape Town Pride has rebranded itself in order to acknowledge the wide diversity of individuals that its community comprises of, and to correct the traumas of the past as well as address inequality.
The rebranding also coincides with the announcement of the theme for the 2019 march, which is “I am me”.
The organisation has also appealed to the community to help them improve the experience of the Pride celebration.
“We hear your calls for diversity and we are doing everything within our might to make Cape Town Pride as inclusive as possible,” the group said. “Understanding the diverse and sometimes traumatic history that makes our beautiful, complex city what it is today has been our main focus. We want to get everyone in the community involved.”
This year marks 23 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in South Africa, and 11 years since same-sex marriages were recognised as having the same rights as heterosexual marriages.
“We have come a long way in those 23 years, yet we face daily reminders that the global battle for true equality is far from over, and rights hard won can be threatened, attacked and taken away,” the organisation said. “It has taken our community many years to secure legal equality for the whole community, and there is still work to do. We exist to continue to fight for true equality and challenge prejudices that the LGBT+ community still sadly face on a daily basis.”
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