Citizens of Guadalajara, a city which has been called “Mexico’s San Francisco” (in addition to “Mexico’s Silicon Valley,” a much less glamorous comparison), can look forward to the state capital’s annual Pride Parade, coming Saturday, June 3.
While pride marches have been occurring in Guadalajara every year for at least 20 years, this year marks the fourth anniversary of the version known as Marcha del Orgullo GDL.
Every year since 2014, the parade chooses a slogan to rally around. Last year’s theme was “Equal rights for everyone”, while the banner for this year’s parade will read (translated from Spanish) “Equal rights for all families.” The event’s Facebook page states that the slogan emphasizes the “legal and social recognition of families of all types, whose voices have been ignored during discussions about human rights and sexual identity in the State Congress.”
In a recent press release, the organization seemed optimistic that the economic benefits gifted to the world by the LGBT community – the firm Out Now Global estimates that 181 million dollars are spent annually by LGBT tourists worldwide – go a long way towards the implementation of pro-equality policy by local, state and national governments.
In the release, the organizers wished to welcome the whole community, any and all collectives, associations, schools, unions, businesses, etcetera, to “participate in the fight for equality and rights for all in Pride GDL 2017.”
The parade will begin at the Glorieta de la Minerva on Vallarta at 2 p.m. From there it will make its way to the Plaza Liberacion in the city center, where festivities will continue until the evening.