Athens Pride 2024: Hundreds gather to celebrate and advocate
Hundreds gathered in Syntagma Square on June 15 to celebrate Athens Pride 2024. The LGBTQ+ community and other participants donned rainbow-colored clothing, elaborate makeup, and unique outfits, creating a vibrant atmosphere.
This year’s motto, “A Law Is Not Enough,” reflected the sentiment that while the legalization of same-sex marriage was a positive step, it has not sufficiently addressed homophobia in Greek society. Polls suggested that Greek society was split on the issue of same-sex marriage and the majority against adoption rights for same-sex couples.
Pride-goers flocked to kiosks set up by participating groups and organizations. Newspapers, NGOs and corporate sponsors engaged with attendees, explaining the relevance of Pride and distributing free merchandise. The SYRIZA, PASOK and New Left political parties too were given a shared tent to engage with voters and express support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Diplomats from 26 countries issued a statement supporting Athens Pride 2024. “We welcome Greece’s passage of marriage equality and adoption equality legislation this past February,” they wrote. “We commit to respecting and promoting the rights of all people.”
On the central stage, speakers emphasized the importance of Pride and called for action against homophobic and transphobic discrimination, while amplifying queer voices. Topics included HIV/AIDS, femicide, substance abuse among queer youth, and the rights of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers.
‘We need much more than a single law. We need political will, we need social solidarity on the basis of human rights’
“We need much more than a single law. We need political will, we need social solidarity on the basis of human rights,” Rinio Symeonidou of the Greek Intersex Community told the crowd gathered in front of the main stage. “We need to break the taboos and the stereotypes that make us suffer. For all of us to be free, we need true inclusion.”
Later in the day, Pride-goers marched holding signs that read “Break the binary” and “In love we trust.” Floats from various groups paraded by, accompanied by lively music or assertive activist chants. Various political figures from across the political spectrum like Athens Mayor Haris Doukas, New Democracy officials, SYRIZA and PASOK MPs, as well as other political figures joined the march.
The ongoing war in Gaza, however, loomed large over this year’s festivities. Palestinian flags were ever-present, as were the chants “No pride in genocide” and “Free Palestine from the river to the sea.” Many attendees thus positioned themselves as intersectional queer activists, expressing the belief that opposing LGBTQ+ discrimination inherently requires addressing other forms of perceived oppression, especially the plight of the Palestinian people.
Criticism of the toleration of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric by Greek politicians and established institutions was also frequent.
Dimitra Kyrillou of Proud Seniors Greece, an LGBTQ support group for those aged 50 and above, took the stage and told the crowd: “The law that was passed is just a small reparation for all that those who govern us owe us. It is a small step for us LGBTQI people to live our lives with dignity. We need to be able to live, however, not die like Zackie O, Anna Ivanova, Vangelis Giakoumakis, and so many others who paid with their lives for the homophobia and hate speech brazenly sown by politicians, priests, the far-right and housewives.”
Achilles Frangos is a summer intern at the Kathimerini English Edition, and a third-year college student at Columbia University.
