Barcelona Gay Pride spotlights discrimination in sports for 10th edition

Barcelona’s gay pride festival starts today with a focus on LGTBIphobia in sports. Over 260,000 people are expected to attend this year, which marks the 10th anniversary of Gay Pride in the city. Pride Barcelona is regarded as one of the most popular celebrations of its kind in Europe, and has helped turn the city into one of the world’s favorites among the LGTBI community.

This year’s motto is “Blow the whistle on LGTBIphobia”, and aims to tackle prejudice against the LGTBI community on the sports field. “Nobody dares come out of the closet, and those few who do face many problems,” said Joan Igual, the director of Pride Barcelona. An example is the Third Division referee in the Spanish football league, Jesús Tomillero, who was forced to retire after coming out and speaking about his homosexuality publicly.

Joan Igual told the CNA that attendance of the celebration grows by 15-20% every year. This year’s edition expects over 260,000 people, 20% of whom will be tourists from countries such as Canada, Australia and Brazil. The celebration is also popular among Russian tourists, who according to Iguala, experience “more and more problems every year.” The celebration is expected to generate 20 million euros in earnings.

Main activities

The city’s University square is the venue for Wednesday’s opening ceremony, with Pride Barcelona 2017 to go on for the next two weekends. The Pride events mainly take place in two areas: Moll de la Fusta, near the port, and the so-called Gaixample, Barcelona’s gay district par excellence.

The first of these venues will be the epicenter for the celebrations on Friday 7 and Saturday 8, with events such as the Miss Drag Queen gala, races in high heels and Pride Kids, an event for children, among others. Gaixample will host the Street Pride Trade on Saturday 1, with many LGTBI businesses offering special deals.

Other highlights include the colorful Holi Festival on Saturday 8, the Foam Party on Friday 7 and the Pride demonstration and parade through Barcelona on Saturday 8, likely to be the most crowded event, which will go from Paral·lel Avenue to Moll de la Fusta.

There will also be plenty of nightlife, with a range of special parties in discos, nightclubs and saunas. Discrimination in sports A survey based on 9,500 interviews of Anglo-Saxon athletes —both gay and straight— found in 2014 that 74% thought non-professional sport is neither “safe” nor “welcoming” for LGTBI people, while 84% said anti-gay jokes were common.