Bucharest gay pride march turns 20 as LGBTQ+ Romanians face growing hostility from right-wing groups

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Thousands of LGBTQ+ supporters person taken to the streets of Romania’s superior for its yearly cheery pridefulness parade

BySTEPHEN MCGRATH Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania -- Thousands of LGBTQ+ supporters took to the streets of Romania’s superior Saturday for its yearly cheery pridefulness parade, pursuing a tense predetermination rhythm marked by an summation successful hatred code against the community.

Marchers of each ages walked done Bucharest’s streets and down the cardinal Victory Avenue, arsenic galore waved colorful flags, blew whistles and held placards that read: “Be proud, beryllium bold, beryllium you!” Held since 2005, the lawsuit marked Bucharest Pride’s 20th anniversary.

This year’s parade comes connected the heels of a highly divisive and chaotic predetermination rhythm that saw a emergence successful enactment for far-right and blimpish governmental figures and parties successful the European Union member, 1 of the bloc’s astir spiritual countries.

Victor Ciobotaru, enforcement manager of ACCEPT Association, an LGBTQ+ rights group, told The Associated Press that passim the 2024-2025 predetermination cycle, the enactment registered “a immense increase” successful hatred crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.

“We had much radical complaining astir being harassed connected the streets oregon being attacked,” helium said. “This hatred code doesn’t stay without effect, we tin consciousness the hostility wrong the nine … We are going to proceed to combat for our rights, nary substance the governmental climate.”

Earlier connected Saturday, right-wing groups who advocator for accepted household values and reason aforesaid enactment matrimony held an anti-LGBT countermarch successful the capital, with galore waving the country's tricolor nationalist flags and others holding placards depicting spiritual icons.

Ahead of the parade, the ACCEPT relation besides reported a ample “STOP LGBT” banner that had been draped implicit an abandoned Bucharest flat block, which was aboriginal removed.

“These types of actions are present much legitimized by the hatred sermon which was dispersed each during these years, during these electoral campaigns,” Ciobotaru added. “We volition not beryllium acrophobic to spell connected the streets.”

This twelvemonth marks 24 years since Romania, a state of astir 19 million, decriminalized homosexuality.

In ILGA-Europe’s 2025 Rainbow Map, which assesses the ineligible and argumentation scenery for LGBT radical crossed Europe, Romania ranked past among each 27 EU countries, followed by Poland and Bulgaria, the advocacy radical found.