Athens Pride LGBTQI fest promotes edn as tool to break stereotypes

Thousands of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community (LGBTQI) of Greece, joined by their families, friends, officials and representatives of civil society organizations paraded in the streets of central Athens on Saturday to celebrate diversity and denounce stigmatization based on sexual orientation.

The one-day festival which included various happenings, such as body painting workshops and music and dance shows aimed to raise awareness on the issues that concern the LGBTQI community in Greece, such as the legal recognition of gender identity which is under discussion.

The event culminated in a colorful parade led by drag queens dressed in extravagant costumes. Youth and grey-haired revelers followed holding rainbow-colored flags and placards with slogans such as "proud to be gay."

Since the first Athens Pride festival in 2005, the mission of the festival has been to elevate the visibility of LGBTQI persons in Greek society, and in so doing advance their rights and demands, organizers explained on their website.

Approximately 500 people participated in the first Athens Pride parade. Gradually the festival grew in size and last year attracted some 20,000 revelers.

This year, the theme was "It is a matter of education", highlighting the major impediments to social acceptance and understanding faced by LGBTQI people in Greece.

"Education, in its broader context, refers to the concepts of schooling, upbringing, learning and culture cultivation. The society we strive for values empathy, solidarity and respect for all human beings," read leaflets distributed to onlookers.

"It is a very significant moment for us being here at the most famous square of Greece, outside the entrance of the parliament... We are here to say that there is shortage of education and eventually everything is a matter of education," Raphael Bilidas, the Athens Pride 2017 festival spokesperson, told Xinhua.

"We will be here each year fighting for our visibility and equal rights," he said.

Despite advances in their rights in recent years, the members of the LGBTQI community in Greece are still suffering discrimination and are threatened by racist attacks and social exclusion. Through education they hope that stereotypes will be broken, they explained.

Marialena A., a girl who took part in Saturday's parade standing by the side of her homosexual friends, plans to be returning on Syntagma square until acceptance and solidarity prevail, she told Xinhua.

"I believe it is very important coming here not only to support our gay friends who want to fight for their rights but for all those people who want to be able to freely express their sexuality and to fight for respect of their rights," she said.