Canary Islands Commemorate LGTBIQ+ Pride Day with Institutional Events
Institutions in Gran Canaria and Tenerife emphasize the importance of equality and safety for the community in neighborhoods and public spaces.
By Idaira Santana Dorta
••3 min read
IA
Rainbow flag waving in the blue sky with a blurred institutional building in the background.
Various Canary Islands institutions commemorated LGTBIQ+ Pride Day this Thursday with advocacy events in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, highlighting the need to build equality in all areas of society.
On the occasion of LGTBIQ+ Pride Day, several institutions across the archipelago organized commemorative and advocacy events. Celebrations included manifesto readings in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, as well as visibility activities in Fuerteventura and La Palma. These events aim to reaffirm the commitment of public administrations to defending the community's rights, equality, and the fight against discrimination.
The institutional manifesto was read at the Casa Palacio of the Cabildo of Gran Canaria. The event was attended by Cabildo representatives, including its president, Antonio Morales, vice-president Augusto Hidalgo, and councilors Isabel Mena Alonso and Guacimara Medina Pérez. Representatives from social entities also participated, such as the president of the Gamá collective, Montserrat González, and members of Chrysallis Canarias.
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"Equality is built in the neighborhoods, in the towns, in the workplaces, in public service, in life. That is where this institution must be present, and that is where we want and must continue to advance."
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"Rights are conquered, and it has cost us a great deal to conquer them for them to try and take them away. Rights are expanded, protected, and practiced in society. A community's maturity is not measured by the freedoms it proclaims but by the real capacity citizens have to exercise them without fear, without concealment, and without diminishing their dignity. LGTBIQ+ public policies are not privileges; they are conceptions of identity. They are instruments of democratic justice aimed at correcting demonstrable inequalities."
During the reading of the institutional declaration, it was emphasized that despite the progress made, significant challenges remain for the LGTBIQ+ community. The need to ensure safe environments for children and adolescents, remove barriers in employment, health, and social recognition, and increase visibility for older members of the community were highlighted.
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"When an LGTBIQ+ person gains freedom, all citizens gain freedom. When a child grows up without fear, a healthier society grows. When a trans person accesses dignified employment, respectful healthcare, a life without humiliation, democracy is strengthened."
The event in Gran Canaria concluded with the exhibition Todas mis vidas by Itziar Hernández, a series of illustrations narrating the emotional and life journey of a lesbian woman.
Meanwhile, the Cabildo of Tenerife also hosted the reading of its institutional declaration. The island's president, Rosa Dávila, highlighted that the rainbow flag symbolizes a declaration of principles and affirmed that Tenerife will remain "an open, respectful, proud, and free island." She emphasized the institution's role as a guarantor of rights and a "bulwark against hate speech."
Rosa Dávila recalled the recent approval of Tenerife's first-ever Insular Strategic Framework for Attention to LGTBIQ+ Diversity, developed with social entities to combat discrimination. The insular director of Equality and Diversity, Patricia León, reiterated the Cabildo's commitment to working firmly for a "diverse, respectful, and free" island, making "not a single concession to any discourse seeking a regression of human rights."
