Last month, Praia hosted another LGBTI Pride Week with the support of Cape Verdean Institute for Gender Equality and Equity (ICIEG), the Spanish Cooperation and the City Hall, amongst other partners.
It was exactly five years ago - on 29 June 2013 - that Mindelo, the second largest city in the country, enrolled Cabo Verde in the group of countries organizing the pride parade, being followed by the countries capital, Praia, three years later.
To the fights for tolerance, new stands have been added to the agenda of the activists. Last year, during the LGBTI Pride Week, the Associação Gay de Cabo Verde announced at a press conference that it would start a campaign to bring to the National Assembly a petition to change the law to include same-sex marriage. This year, joining forces with the Associação LGBTI de Praia and Associação Arco Iris, the Pride was also focused on the petition of a Law of equal treatment and non-discrimination against all forms of sexual orientation, identity and gender expression (Anti-LGBTIphobia Law).
The activities of the Pride week included the traditional parade on the city center – under the slogan “De boa com quem sou” – as well as dialogues and debates in the UniCV (Cabo Verde's oldest university) and a photograph exposition featuring members of the local LGBTI community.
There are still many challenges to achieve real equality in Cape Verde, but with the efforts of the LGBTI associations and the commitment of public organizations, especially the ICIEG and UN Women, the change is already underway.