Thousands gather on Copacabana Beach for Rio de Janeiro Pride

Thousands of LGBTQ+ people and allies gathered on Copacabana Beach for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s annual Pride parade. 

On Sunday (24 November), rainbow-emblazoned flags, towels and fans lined the iconic two-and-a-half-mile beach in celebration of the queer community in the country during Rio de Janeiro Pride. 

This year, one of the march’s themes was sustainability. A banner on a truck read, “Environmental justice will only be possible with racial and social justice, gender equality, and sexual diversity.”

Brazil has navigated several environmental challenges this year, including floods in southern Rio Grande do Sul, wildfires across the country, and a record drought in the Amazon rainforest. 

Alexia Soutinho, a 23-year-old student, said: “If we can’t respect the environment, how can we respect others?”

But amid the dancing and singing in the very place where Madonna made history just six months prior, some chose to shed light on the threat of violence subjected to LGBTQ+ people in Brazil. 

In 2023, at least 230 LGBTQ+ Brazilians were victims of violent deaths, as per the Observatory of LGBTI+ Deaths and Violence in Brazil. More trans people were killed in Brazil last year than in any other country, as per Transgender Europe. 

Helen Karajá, a 32-year-old bisexual artist, said: “As the sister of a trans woman, I’m scared to death.”

However, 71-year-old hairdresser Carlos da Cunha believes that “life for gay people is safer now than it used to be”.

“In the past, people had to go to ghettos to meet people, because you couldn’t just be anywhere,” Cunha said. “Now, we can walk down the street without being attacked, without being insulted or humiliated.”

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