Spain is in the middle of an election period and the International LGBTI+ Pride Day was marked by the progress of VOX in the country, as the party vetoed it, and in places and regions where it is now part of governments, the display of the rainbow flag is usually officially placed on public buildings on this date.
The rainbow flag, a symbol of the fight against discrimination based on sexual orientation, this Wednesday, International LGBTI+ Pride Day, was a symbol of the political struggle Spain is experiencing and a sign of progress in the far-right country.
After the May 28 regional and local elections, the far-right VOX party entered 140 municipal governments and presided over four autonomous parliaments.
VOX has reached an agreement to govern the region of the Valencian Community in a coalition with the Popular Party (PP, right), which took over from Castile and Leon last year.
Meanwhile, National Assembly elections are scheduled for July 23, with polls giving the possibility of a repeat of the situation at the national level, meaning a government coalition between the PP and VOX.
Spain is in the middle of the election period and the International LGBTI+ Pride Day was marked by the progress of VOX in the country this Wednesday, since the party vetoed it, in places and regions where it is now part of the governments, the display is usually the rainbow flag on public buildings officially placed on this date.
VOX’s ban on the flag ended up provoking episodes of conflict with left-wing parties.
This is what happened in the parliament building of Castile and Leon, where the president of the assembly banned the placing of the flag for the second year, but the Socialist representatives (PSOE) decided to do it in the windows of the parliament chambers. group.
The president of the regional parliament (Carlos Pollan, VOX) formally asked the Socialists to remove the several-meter-long flag and threatened to send security forces to carry out the order. Louis Tutanka, head of the PSOE parliamentary group, refused to remove the flag, saying it would remain in place until the end of the day on Wednesday.
A similar event took place in the municipal building of Valladolid, the capital of Castile and Leon, ruled by the Socialists until this year but now in the hands of the PP/VOX coalition.
News of the withdrawal of the LGBTI+ flag or its non-display in public buildings sparked a series of criticisms this Wednesday from the leaders of the PSOE and other left-wing parties, who have threatened to enter the VOX government into the national election campaign.
Leaders of the PP underlined this Wednesday the party’s support for the fight for equal rights for LGBTI+ people (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and others).
“We celebrate the recognition of diversity and everyone decides who they want to be with in their lives. Happy Pride Day,” PP’s president Alberto Núñez Feijoo wrote on Twitter.
This Wednesday night, for the first time, the party decided to light up its national headquarters in Madrid with the colors of the rainbow.
The president of VOX, Santiago Abascal, said there is no reason to celebrate or mark the day.
“I think it’s because I’m heterosexual, but I think there are many homosexuals who don’t celebrate this day because they simply don’t minimize their personality and their sexual orientation”, he said in an interview. TVE Television.
Pedro Sánchez, leader of the PSOE and Prime Minister, showed a bracelet and a rainbow and called to celebrate the International LGBTI+ Pride Day this Wednesday, so that there will be no backlash on rights in Spain, and “PP and VOX companies put their prejudices inside the institutions”.
In the last 20 days the PP and VOX agreements in the municipalities and regions have translated into “20 years of setbacks” in terms of ideas and texts, for example with the election of heads of regional parliaments on the extreme right, Sanchez reiterated. Vaccination and climate change deniers, anti-abortion activists, or those who claim no gender violence.
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