Cosenza was tinged with colors and hope with the “Cosenza Pride 2024” event, promoted by Arcigay Cosenza and sponsored by the municipal administration.
Cosenza was tinged with colors and hope with the “Cosenza Pride 2024” event, promoted by Arcigay Cosenza and sponsored by the municipal administration. From Piazza Loreto to Piazza dei Bruzi, the procession, which saw a great participation, flooded the streets of the city with contagious enthusiasm, overwhelming music (the Cosenza Pride theme song was created by the Calabrian trio Free Love) and eloquent posters for loudly demand respect for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Rainbow flags waved proudly in the wind, symbolizing a movement fighting for equality and full acceptance. One of the most significant posters read: “They ask us to respect the system but there is no respect in the system for us.” A clear and powerful message, symbol of the sentiment of many participants who crowded the streets to demand equality and dignity.
AN INVASION OF COLORS AND HOPE FOR LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS
The drag queens, with their impeccable costumes and make-up, lit up the day, adding a touch of glamor and spectacle to the event. Doretta, honorary president of Arcigay “I Due Mari” of Reggio Calabria, shared with us her pride in participating in the event: «Pride must be a party, and we hope that the day will come soon when it can be just this . Today, Pride is a celebration that brings with it the commitment to reclaim the fundamental rights that a State must recognize. We exist and we only ask to be treated with the same dignity and respect reserved for all other citizens.” Doretta underlined: «I participate in the pride in drag queen clothes because I am one of those who work most in the animation sector for events that include not only the LGBT community but also purely straight events such as weddings, stag and hen parties. I believe that with fun, cheerfulness, smiles and good manners we can come to respect others.”
Another significant voice was that of Rateds, a teacher at the drag queen school recently opened in Cosenza. Rateds spoke to us about the “Drag Yourself” initiative, a project developed together with Arcigay Cosenza and colleague Zia Gina: «We had an unexpected response from people. Usually, we think of a drag queen as a man who dresses up as a woman. In reality, it is a laboratory open to everyone, men, women, regardless of their sexual orientation. We taught participants how to apply makeup, make clothes and wigs and how to stand on stage. It was exciting to see how interested the city of Cosenza is in the profession of drag nowadays.”
COSENZA PRIDE 2024: THE COSENZAPP INITIATIVE
There was no lack of support from local initiatives such as that of Daniele Spadafora of CosenzApp, who transformed an act of hatred into a powerful message of solidarity: «We have supported pride since we announced the date because precisely on that occasion, our post was flooded with phrases of contempt and hatred towards the demonstration. We thought we would transform hatred into support by donating two euros for each person who commented negatively on that post. From there, we realized that it wasn’t enough to stop at this, so we created a series of informative contents telling some stories of the LGBTQIA+ community to educate those who followed us, hoping that sooner or later the fact that a child has two mothers or that there is a school for drag queens in Cosenza, don’t make such a fuss and unleash so much hatred.”
Daniele observed that, alongside the negative comments, there were also numerous messages of support. «I hope that sooner or later we can live in a more peaceful and civilized way, especially on social media, because they represent a space in which people, hiding behind a monitor, feel free to say anything. I hope we can calm this wave of hatred on social media”, she concluded.
“Cosenza Pride 2024” demonstrated how a city can unite under the rainbow of rights, transforming the streets into a theater of inclusiveness and hope. The demonstration was not just a party, but also a powerful act of resistance and demand for recognition, a step forward towards a more just and inclusive future for all.
