Over 100 Albanian activists and their supporters organized today the first event in the world of Pride that took place using online technology, in times of social distancing.
On their public statement, the LGBTI NGO’s stated that “the parade is not an event, but a meeting point with our common past and future; a process that begins initially under the violence of personal isolation, violence that keeps us for years intimidated and isolated within ourselves, to then explode, finally, in the form of a social protest”.
For about 2 hours, activists, representatives of foreign embassies in Tirana, members of the LGBTI community and supporters of the cause, came together to bring the focus once again on love, which overcame every technical and physical barrier in this edition of the Tirana Pride Parade.
With the motto that the parade is not a moment in the calendar, but the heart of a social solidarity that does not have an isolation mechanism to stop it from moving forward, activists also stressed that “the parade consequently is not just a march, but a spirit that it’s not kept alive by the number of people who march, but our minds that have the opportunity to recreate it ”.
The ambassadors of Sweden, the Netherlands, the European Union, the Council of Europe etc., joined along with their public statements and support, while singer Boiken Lako, a permanent supporter of human rights performed several songs during the online event.
Furthermore, the photographer Jetmir Idrizi presented “Queerantine”, the unique exhibition with portraits of the LGBT community that as of today is online on instragram (queerantine.al). The People’s Advocate, Mrs. Erinda Ballanca, also present at the event, was of the same opinion as the activists that there can be no justice for the LGBT community without justice for the whole of Albania.
Many of the activists kept the message “Protect the Theater” as the background of their image. Holding a public stance on the issue of the National Theater. Activists Xheni Karaj and Kristi Pinderi also said they believed they could not achieve equality, if Albania did not offer equal opportunities to everyone else.
The event, recorded today, will be broadcast on the following social networks of the LGBT Alliance and Historia Ime.
Pride continues… #PrideON
