Thousands at Marche Pride in Ancona, ‘love without barriers’

ANCONA, JUN 22 – “Love is without barriers”, “let’s bury discrimination”, “I need a State that is on the side of rights”, ‘no homophobia, love is love’. Thousands of people in Ancona at the sixth edition of Marche Pride, a demonstration to defend the rights of LGBTQ+ people: a rainbow procession from the Passetto, through Viale della Vittoria, headed to the central Piazza Cavour for speeches and testimonies. At the head of the snake, accompanied by music and dancing, amidst the waving of flags, the Marche Pride banner but also the rainbow families, a truck with the CGIL flags, decorations that recall the colors of inclusiveness, another vehicle open on where drag queens dance with colored balloons and a giant tombstone bearing the words “Rip discrimination”. The initiative “is not a farce – Matteo tells ANSA – but a demonstration of freedom in all its forms and should be respected” to say that in society “there is no respect, one cannot love freely, one is treated as second-class citizens or worse.” Among the participants Simone Giangiacomi, from Arcigay Ancona, disabled in a wheelchair, also equipped with a breathing aid: “there are many people with disabilities who belong to the LGBT community and we are here against any form of discrimination even towards disabilities, in Arcigay we try to be as inclusive as possible.” Over 60, including from other regions, the associations and bodies that have joined including Arcigay, CGIL and UIL Marche, Amnesty International, Pd and Giovani Democrati Marche, Rete Studenti Medi, Sinistra Italiana Marche, Anpi Marche, Più Europa Centro Marche. Among others, the MEP Matteo Ricci, the regional secretary of the dem Chantal Bomprezzi and the PD councilor Micaela Vitri participated. The Marche Pride Committee, through the voice of the president Matteo Marchegiani, secretary of Arcigay Comunitas Ancona, expected a total participation of 5 thousand-7 thousand people. “We ask politicians – he tells ANSA – to respond to an emergency in our country made up of violence, discrimination and harassment which are daily bread for a portion of our community”.