Quezon City to host Pride Festival anew

MANILA, Philippines — Quezon City will again host this year’s Pride Festival at the Quezon Memorial Circle on June 24.

Organized by Pride PH, one of the broadest networks of LGBTQIA+ members and organizations in the country, this year’s festival will center on the theme “Love, Laban: A celebration of the fight for love in all forms and ways.”

The event will have three major activities: Pride Expo, Pride March and Pride Night.

“More than a celebration, the Pride Festival is a call to end the discrimination, hate and prejudice among members of the LGBTQIA+,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement yesterday.

“We are holding this activity not because this sector is seeking special treatment. Rather, what they long for is simply a halt to the undeserved ill treatment and denial of opportunities they continue to suffer from,” she added.

Mela Habijan, Miss Trans Global 2020 and lead convener of Pride PH, expressed gratitude to the city government for being one of the biggest allies of the LGBTQIA+ community.

“This is the second year that the local government of Quezon City has welcomed us into their home. And we have been blessed to have the support of Mayor Belmonte, who has been a consistent genuine ally of the community since day one,” Habijan said.