Over 150,000 people celebrated Brussels Pride this year
The latest edition of Brussels Pride was a tremendous success, with over 150,000 people coming out onto the streets of Brussels to celebrate LGBTQIA+ rights for the Pride Parade.
The organisers themselves have summed it up nicely, referring to the event as a “festive, memorable but also important and necessary moment for the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The theme of this Brussels Pride -- also referred to as the Belgian & European Pride -- was to “protect the protest” as they wished to call attention to the fundamental right to protest.
The procession set off in the afternoon, passing through well-established landmarks, starting at the Mont des Arts and coming near the Saint-Jacques district with its many LGBTQIA+-friendly bars.
In addition, DJs entertained the crowds at the Mont des Arts and at the Stock Exchange.
The parade was the culmination of Pride Week, which ran from 10 to 19 May, That also included IDAHOT (the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia) on 17 May. That date was chosen to commemorate the day that the World Health Organisation no longer considered homosexuality as a mental illness, on 17 May 1990.
Let’s celebrate the fact that Belgium continues to be a safe space for those that are part of the LGBTQIA+ community and hope that other countries around the world follow suit!