Costumes, Pride and a touch of Carnival!
Coming from New York City I’ve covered many Gay Pride parades, 
where grand is no longer overwhelming to me. When I attended the Buenos Aires Pride Parade last week I had no idea what to expect. I was quite surprised to see such a huge turnout in a city that has traditionally been very conservative.
My first GLBTI Pride in Buenos Aires (which is in Argentina, not Brazil by the way) was indeed overwhelming -- with costumes and pride that were bigger than life; a calm police force and great energy. They stode Avenida de Mayo 
with the Congress building behind them.
Marcha Del Orgullo," or March Of The Proud, included Gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and intersexed. The parade route ended in Plaza de Mayo where participants flooded in by the thousands directly across from the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the offical government building (wih that famous .jpg)
balcony from where Evita addressed an adoring crowd so many decades ago.)
Until recent years gay men could be arrested for simply walking together if they didn’t know each others last names when questioned by police. To see such a large turn out in force was humbling.
The GLBT community came together to say here we are. We're different than you and that's OK., take us as we are "The parade had a Carnival feel to it, especially with all the flesh that the trans-girls were presenting, something the Brazilians to the north are well known for during Carnival.
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Here in Buenos Aires residents have an easy-going attitude about the transgender people -- more of a curiousity than a distain. Of course, they won´t be invited to join the country clubs anytime soon. The travesti marched with a sign saying "no more transphobia," which of course reminds us that no matter how the visual attitude seems, inequality still previals.
The event certainly had lots of trans girls there. There is a large population of trangender people in Buenos Aires. Most t.jpg)
hat I have met are very out and proud. The city has some of the best cosmetic surgeons in the world, but sex reassignment surgery is still against the law. So they can take hormones to alter the shape of their bodies, get implants, have their face altered, but until the law changes the T-girls here can never become the women they identify as, and will remain in a class by themselves: Travesti.
As I spoke to participants in this years’ Gay Pride Parade I began to understand the strides they have made in acceptance and civil rights in the past decade. I therefore saw the event beyond the costumes and the fun that everyone was having, to see the impact of pride bringing about change.
It was not only a fun day - the weather was great too - but for me it was als.jpg)
o an educational day, and isn't that really the point? Pride and education seem to be good bedfellows. As the sun began to set the crowd slowly dispersed, but their impact lingers on.
I am hoping to get to the clubs Transformations and Search in the near future so I can share it with you with a report and photos. Until thene, wherever you are, be safe, happy and ALWAYS THINK PRETTY!
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- On April 01 At 13:40 -carolina- said
very good, buy I only tell you that here in Argentina you can have the autoritation for the sex reassignment surgery in 3 months and the surgery is free, the goverment pay for it