Thousands celebrate Brussels Pride with slogan ‘Protect the Protest’

Thousands of people celebrated Pride on the streets of Brussels on Saturday, marching in a parade with the slogan “Protect the Protest.”

“Pride is a great party where everyone can be themselves,” Radjiny Schiltz, spokeswoman for Brussels Pride said, according to Belga, the Belgian press agency.

“But there is still a lot to be done to to ensure equality for the LGBTQIA+ community”, Schiltz added.

Belgian media reported a playful and colourful crowd of 150,000 people taking part in the celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of same-sex marriage in Belgium.

Schiltz said the parade’s slogan “Protect the Protest” was taken from Amnesty International’s campaign to protect the right to protest. She stressed too many people take the right for granted.

“Everyone thinks that this right is guaranteed everywhere, but this is definitely not the case. There is still a lot to do for freedom and diversity,” Schiltz said.

The festival began at Mont des Arts in Brussels’ city centre at 2pm (1200 GMT) near where Pride Village, a forum set up to inform the public about the struggles of the queer community, is also located.

Concerts and DJ sets have also been organized, featuring artists like iNess, Manz, DJ Alex Chesko, DJ Aero Plane and members of the Drag Race Belgium cast.

Hundreds of associations, artists and partners took part. Pride was organized by gay rights advocacy groups çavaria, Prisme, Rainbowhouse Brussels and Brussels Rainbow Village.