Ecuador Joins The Whole World in Gay Pride Week Celebrations

(video via Nefertitina23)

In order to celebrate the Gay Pride 2012 Week Festivities, foundations and civilians from all over the country organized Parades this weekend to show their pride and colors to a society that’s opening up their minds about many controversial topics.

The Ministry of Health of Ecuador, along with many NGOs such as Fundación Yunta, Fundación Ecuatoriana Equidad and many other small organized groups sponsored Gay Pride Parades in the main cities of the country.

The biggest Gay Pride parade to date in Ecuador, called The Festival of Diversity, took place last Saturday afternoon at the streets of Guayaquil, where more than 17,500 people (data via PricewaterhouseCoopers) gathered to express their support for the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual and Questioning) Community.

The Parade, which started at Olmedo Street in the beginning of the iconic Malecón 2000 Square of Guayaquil, continued along 9 de Octubre Street and ended on Santa Elena Street; with a stage filled with TV Stars, Comedians, and the Queen of the Parade, Katya Tamayo who expressed her support and honor to be a part of the parade. “This isn’t only a Parade to support the LGBT community but also the awareness of equality in all of our society. Our society is changing”, she said.

The parade in Guayaquil also spread the awareness of many issues to the LGBTQ Community such as Health Care Information, HIV Prevention Measures, and the inclusion in the society of the members of the Community. All of this took place on an environment of celebration, joy, comedy and party among the members of the community and the large number of supporters who also attended the parade to support their gay friends.

Simultaneously, on the Capital of the Country, Quito, a large Parade also took place and was supported by the Government of Ecuador as well. The parade in Quito started at the North of the city on the Avenida Amazonas for more than 10 blocks. Hundreds celebrated with floats, banners, balloons and whistles, spreading the message of joy and pride of being a part of the Gay Community.

Ecuador has joined for the fifth year in a row the celebrations that have been a tradition in many cities all around the world, where every year the number of people, gay and straight, join the parades to express their support for the Community.  This week, cities like Barcelona, Caracas,  Paris, San Francisco, Toronto, New York City and countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Perú, and many others (you can read more information by clicking on each city/country), have all expressed their support with parades and celebrations of the Gay Pride 2012. (JR)