As passions boil in Lithuania, religious Spaniards walk the streets naked

If those who spoke out strongly against gays and lesbians in Lithuania now went to holiday-filled Spain and began spreading their stated truths about the fact that homosexuals supposedly endanger traditional couples, thousands of people would whistle at that. person. “We have no place for hatred, Spaniards for tolerance, we are all equal, we all have the right to love,” men and women, older and younger, chant in the streets. Equality Month is celebrated here.

Imagine: a seventh grader, teenage boys and girls, made rainbow flags during May, making several hundred of them, so they could share the streets in June. The school officially endorses it, even promotes it as a socially and socially beneficial project. Parents also agree, there is no discussion, it does not seem to them that the attributes of the rainbow can harm the offspring in any way. Therefore, Spaniards of all ages prepared in advance for the end of June, the beginning of July. Everyone in this country knows that it is time for the LGBTQ + community parade.

“There are probably still a lot of Soviet-minded people living in you,” Alechandro Rodríguez, one of Spain’s human rights activists, comments about Lithuanians after hearing that there is still a heated debate in our country about support for LGBT people. . However, it does not tend to condemn homophobic people and educate them as much as possible through literature, shows and documentaries. “These are people who have spent many years in captivity, they have had limited information, only one head is being hit: the Soviet truth. They were formed in a very strange order, so now they think more narrowly, they fear others than themselves. But it should eventually pass, ”said this man, who graduated from law school and took a great interest in the regime in the former Soviet bloc countries, including Lithuania.

Alechandro has a wife and raises two children, but a 38-year-old man is still not the same as a man of sex: his lesbian sister is married to an immigrant from Argentina. “I love my sister, I only wish her the best, I want her to be happy with her lover,” she says.

Alechandra, his wife and children attend gay, lesbian and transgender support events every year, wearing paraphernalia to support them. A man gives rainbow flags to his eight-year-old son and four-year-old daughter to keep. “From an early age, I try to develop tolerance in my children. It seems to me that this is as important as teaching a beautiful culture of communication, behavior at the table and things like that, ”says the active Spaniard.

Thousands of people celebrated Pride Week events last Saturday in Spain’s brightest city, Barcelona. Since the morning, schools, universities, employees of various institutions, the community of older adults and active families gathered to celebrate. Maintaining equality between people is something natural for Spaniards, so neither parades nor LGBTQ concerts have been surprising for a long time. This country is one of the leaders in Europe, where same-sex families have more rights. In Spain it is legal for a man to marry a man, or for a woman with a woman to legally have children of the same sex, that they adopt children, they do so actively.

In the cities and towns of this country, it is not surprising when two women go hand in hand and marry one child, or even several. In society, it is perfectly normal to see a traditional couple with children. There is a lot of tolerance in Spain, but Rainbow Pride events are still held every year at the end of June.

“We have 285 holidays a year, we celebrate religious, national and multi-community days. We have occasions to mention something each week. It is a tomato festival, it is a wine festival, it is a Saints’ Day ”, says María Torres, a Spanish woman who works for a receptive tourism company.

In his opinion, holidays strongly lift the mood of society, in addition, they attract tourists. “Everyone in Spain knows that the end of June is for LGBT people, and the most fun and colorful carnivals take place in every city and town. They are loved by children, loved by my parents, who are in their seventies, ”says Maria, who lives with a gay couple. “I am heterosexual, but I have many homosexual friends, they are wonderful people, so I do not understand why their rights should be restricted in some way, I am sorry that not all European countries understand this.” said a woman born in Malaga and currently residing in Barcelona. It is true that he does not deny that there are homophobic thinkers in Spain, but he says that it is a rare exception. “We are ashamed to speak out against the equality of people, and if someone does that, it is like a label that the person has no education or lacks social skills,” said Maria, who met at Pride events.

In each Spanish city, Pride events are held differently, depending on the local community. In Valencia, for example, the parade is calmer, more reminiscent of a supporting procession. Only a large crowd marches with flags and posters. And here is Barcelona, ​​one of the most stormy cities, where the participants try to dress in an original way, to free themselves from various social stereotypes. “We are celebrating human rights,” they rejoice. For example, men of solid age, in their sixties to seventies, wear high heels and wear skirts. Transsexuals are very active in the party, they organize their own individual shows, parodying famous Hollywood actresses and singers.

Most of the attention is received from naked passers-by: people have completely thrown away their clothes. It is true that there are few, of a few thousand, only a few. They march through the streets as nature created them. “Freedom to look how we want,” they sing in Spanish. Passersby take photos, film naked, but they don’t care at all. On the contrary, pose, greet happily.

For families with children, the greatest joy is seeing people dressed in bright colors with bright feathers or participants of the procession who created an original makeup. They immediately run to take photos with them.

Barcelona seemed to have fully recovered from the effects of last Saturday’s pandemic. A stormy parade took place during the day and a huge dance party began at dusk. Thousands moved through the main streets of the city to the rhythm of dance music. It is true that minors are not involved in nightlife, it is only an adult affair.