An International Day Against LGTBIQ + phobia full of emotions and very vindictive

Last Monday, May 17, our annual tribute to the Sitges Triangle, the monument erected in 2006, took place. This memorial commemorates the so-called “Facts of Sitges”, which occurred in 1996, of which 25 aniversary are celebrated in 2021. At the event, organized by our association Colors Sitges Link, attended by members of the council, such as the mayor Aurora Carbonell or the councilors for Social Rights and Health, Julia Vigò and Elisabeth Pérez, respectively, and Mónica Gallardo, representing the Municipal Group of Junts per Sitges.

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It was an act open to participation. Many people were able to express their commitment against LGTBIQ+phobia. We had the participation of representatives of citizen entities and political parties, such as the Red Cross, the Cercle de Podem Sitges, Guanyem Sitges, ERC, PSC, Junts por Sitges among others.

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Below, you can find the transcripts of the introductory speeches, the speech of our president, Pedro Martín, and the Manifesto “Digues la teva” with which, one more year, we defend and vindicate our reason for being, our right to natural to live a full life in a public and with freedom.

Opening speech of the event “Digues la teva !!”

Good afternoon everyone, welcome.

We are the LGTBIQ + Colors Sitges Link Association, formerly known as Gay Sitges Link. We are here today, in front of the Pink Triangle of Sitges, the monument erected as a symbol of the fight against LGTBIQ + phobia, on the day in which we precisely vindicate this same fight, the reason for being of our entity: to end once and for all with inequalities in matters of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Today, on the International Day against LGTBIQ + fòbia, we want to invite everyone, individual people, entities, groups, Institutions, media, political parties, … anyone who wants to can “Dir la seva!”, As the Leitmotiv of our campaign: “Against LGTBIQ + fòbia” Digues la teva! “”, that is, make yourself heard, that silence is not a response to attitudes and facts.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the so-called “Facts of Sitges”: a very unfortunate chapter of LGTBIQ + fòbia that took place in our town: It was a historic moment, in 1996, in which the political and social situation favored a series of intolerant behaviors towards our community. Neo-Nazi groups that emerged throughout the territory, together with a government in the consistory led by right-wing parties that gave the former a push by promulgating discriminatory and criminalizing ordinances.

Ten years after those events, in 2006, the LGTBIQ + FAGC, CGB, Casal Lambda and the Grup Lesbianes Feministes, thought that the time had come to request an act of redress from the City Council. Àngels Parés (ERC) from the Department of Culture and Jordi Baijet (PSC) from the mayor’s office gave the go-ahead. Sitgetan groups joined, such as Endavant-Osan, Associació de Joves, Associació d’Unitat Popular and Coordinadora Independent de Sitges.

And here we find ourselves, year after year, claiming our rights, defending our vines. It has been a long way to get here, but the journey is far from over. The current situation is a clear example. We cannot lose heart, not now. Keep fighting, never be silent again. Against the LGTBIQ + fòbia: “Digues la teva!”.

Let’s stop together all the LGTBIQ+phobia!

Speech by Pedro Martín Cumplido (Macu), president of Colors Sitges Link, Associació LGTBIQ +

” Good afternoon, I’m Pedro Martín and for the past couple of months I’ve had the honor of chairing the Sitges Link Colors Association.

We want to welcome you all on this special day and place for several reasons:

One to be the first event in the public space that we organize after this year of pandemic that we are still living.

And the other for being the first event we organize with the presence of our Mayor and authorities in which we share this new more diverse and plural stage that is symbolized by this change of name of our Association to Colors Sitges Link.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This already famous phrase from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted almost 60 years ago by the United Nations General Assembly, remains today the perfect representation of the demands of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender people, transsexuals and people in sex or intersex transition.

The mission of our association COLORS SITGES LINK, is to end all discrimination motivated by our sexual orientation or gender.

Today, International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, is celebrated on May 17 of each year to denounce the discrimination against all people with sexual preferences other than conventional as is the case of homosexuals, transsexuals, bisexuals and lesbians around the world.

Some countries still do not accept two other aspects of human diversity: that there are people of different sexual orientation or gender identity; that two women, or two men, fall in love, and that it is not the body with which one is born that determines one’s personal identity as a woman, as a man, or as any of these.

The refusal to accept and respect these differences is a cause of oppression in the daily lives of LGTBI people in most parts of the world. In some countries, even discrimination, violence and even murder against LGTBI people are on the rise.

In Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe there are thousands of brothers and sisters fighting for freedom and equality. But the advances are very uneven.

LGTBI associations such as COLORS SITGES LINK are the main protagonists of this change. We are all over the world being the friendly hand to our collective and the social engine of this revolution.

We cannot stop the commitment to our group, so CSL work together, coordinate and are part of the ILGA (LGTBI World Organization), FELGTB (LGTBI State Federation) and the Territorial Network of Entities of Catalonia and the LGTBI Platform of Catalonia so that our voice can be heard around the world.

Colors Sitges Link thanks to your support as partners, partners and financial contributions to be able to do our work of solidarity and support to our community. That is why we call on you to continue to help us as before.

In a country and a people, SITGES, that we live in a privileged environment of freedom and democracy, many people still find themselves helpless and suffer all kinds of aggression.

We do not lower our guard, there is no right that lasts forever without constantly defending it.

Sitges’ DNA is LGTBI. Modern Sitges cannot be understood without the LGTBI community (we could go back to before the civil war to find examples of tolerance and inclusiveness). Throughout recent history, however, there have been moments of misunderstanding and attempts have been made to repress, oppress, manipulate or blur its reality and make us believe that the “gay” was limited to two or three. streets of the village.

The world is moving and Sitges is changing too. The future belongs to all of us who live, enjoy or visit the village, and we must draw it without leaving anyone behind and overcoming the mistakes of the past.

Listen, understand, dialogue, empathize, resist …

We still have a lot of work to do. Let’s get on with it!

IN THIS STRUGGLE WE ARE ALL TOGETHER

Digues la teva!

Manifesto of Colors Sitges Link, Associació LGTBIQ+, against LGTBIQ+phobia

“Digues la teva!”, because if you don’t, you become invisible

“Digues la teva” is a Catalan expression, very much our own, that implies not keeping quiet about a situation, giving your point of view, your opinion, saying that you agree or that you reject. It is the expression of your ideas, your feelings, your opinion.

“Digues la teva!”, because if you don’t do it someone else will do it for you

Because your opinion must be free and genuine. The story of hatred is built from your silence. If we express our reality, there will always be those who will listen to it, and confront it with the crude perception that we are ideology. Our lives are not politics.

“Digues la teva!”, so that your vision of the world is taken into account

Enough of injustices, of undermining people’s realities. If you can’t stand it any longer when you hear about cases of institutional violence in countless countries, even today, against people from our community, you speak for them. To remain silent is to allow and silence is the executioner.

“Digues la teva!” to protect your rights

“Digues la teva” so that, as well as having the right to your privacy, you have the freedom to show yourself in public as you are. Hypocrisy is not a positive value for anyone, but a defect to be avoided. It is time to put aside stereotypes and discriminatory labels and value people for being different and authentic in their being, because we are, we do not appear to be.

“Digues la teva!”, to abolish once and for all the stigma of our community

There is nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. In the same way as hetero-normative behaviors are not questioned, our customs or our natural displays of behavior, displays of love and human affection do not constitute a grievance for anyone.

“Digues la teva!” so that our group grows up in a happy and dignified way

If you consider that the system is not prepared for this purpose.  Let growing up never again mean going back into the closet. Our elders deserve the same respect as everyone else. They who have fought so hard for us all to have the rights and freedoms that are now being questioned. A dignified old age is not a hetero-normative privilege, it is a human right.

“Digues la teva!”, so that we all have the right to a dignified life

If you believe that the right to have a decent job and adequate health coverage is a universal right. That the fact of living a different gender reality is not a condemnation to labour exclusion and, consequently, to social marginalisation. Constitutional rights say nothing about sexual identity. Quite the contrary, article 14 speaks of equality “before the law, without any discrimination based on birth, race, sex, religion, opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance”. Let us comply with the Constitution to the letter.

“Digues la teva!”, so that our future generations learn respect and equality,

if you consider that educating in diversity is the solution to have an empathetic society. We are all different and unique. Just as each one of us is different, each couple, each family is unique in its own way. Family values ​​are not governed by clichés and hetero-normative stereotypes.

“Digues la teva!”, It is now, at this moment, when it becomes most necessary.

“Digues la teva” to build this positive revolution that speaks of a better and diverse future for all, where everyone has a place. Live, enjoy, build, be happy, be visible, be free. And for that there is only one positive option:

Against LGTBIQ+phobia: “Digues la teva!”

Photografs by Manuel Riccardi