The Embassy of Canada in Mexico City was pleased to work with the Mexico City Pride Parade organizing committee to establish the first coordinated, high-profile international delegation to join the 38th LGBTI Pride Parade.
The colourful maple leaf flew proudly and drew much attention in this year’s Mexico City Pride Parade; supporting banners that read “Derechos LGBTI = Derechos Humanos” (LGBTI Rights = Human Rights). The embassy staff and members of the Canadian community showed their support for LGBTI rights led the delegation that included friends and colleagues from the US, the UK, France, Denmark, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the European Union.
This year marked the first parade that was officially sanctioned by the city and took place in the context of the President’s proposal to legalize same-sex marriage, which followed a June 2015 decision by the Supreme Court ruling it unconstitutional for Mexican states to ban same-sex couples from getting married.
The enormous crowd –over 500,000 people between participants and spectators—had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the large international presence at the parade, with bystanders cheering on the contingent and taking countless pictures.
This sizeable presence at this year’s parade demonstrated not only the international communities’ support for the LGBTI community and its allies, but also lent much-needed public support for the same-sex marriage and other equality-focused initiatives in Mexico.
Canada’s participation and leadership demonstrated publicly the priority that the Government of Canada places on the human rights of the LGBTI community, both at home and abroad.