The Athens Pride Festival returned after its cancellation last year and thousands of people paralyzed in the center of Athens in the colors of the rainbow in favor of diversity.
The conditions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic did not allow the Athens Pride Festival to be held as in previous years, with concerts and kiosks, however this did not prevent thousands of people from singing, dancing and shouting in favor of diversity and against homophobia.
The crowd started the parade from Klafthmonos Square and flooded the center of Athens, ending in front of the Greek Parliament.
Volunteers waved a rainbow flag throughout the parade and other people played drums and danced to its rhythms.
In fact, in a truck that followed the parade there was a DJ who was playing music and the rest of the crowd was dancing waving flags and placards with slogans.
The announcement of the organizers:
"We spent another year watching our lives go by and our rights - the few we held tightly in one hand - being violated. A time when our individual responsibility was so worn that it replaced politics. A time when we mourn victims, freedoms and injustices every day.
A year with our claims staying in the drawer and with a government refusing to treat the LGBTQI + community as an equal member of society. The deprivation of our rights has a timeless and cross-party character.
Society is ready. Governments do not.
Our time has come. Time to get down on the road, where it all started. Simply. Companions. Demanding. Human.
It is time for us, as a community, to go back to the beginning and look for the elements that unite us. What gives us the courage to continue in this homophobic, transphobic and racist society despite the police violence, patriarchy, inequality, isolation and abuse we experience.
"What will make us proudly take to the streets together, while maintaining the claim of human rights as an integral part of our new daily life."
Victor Antonopoulos