The upcoming street festival celebrating the LGBTIQ+ community is due to return to the capital, posing a challenge for the organising team, but with the promise of increased visibility. In recent years the parade has taken place in Esch-sur-Alzette, but the team hope for more attendees in the capital. Esch-sur-Alzette gave the organisers more planning security and more support, and they established a convention allowing them to grow the celebration and organise numerous events around Pride Week. From now on, though, the festivities will alternate between Luxembourg City and Esch.
The agreement worth €250,000 signed by the Luxembourg City council and the Pride organisers this year drew criticism, mainly from the city's ADR faction. In recent days, the local ADR branch has lashed out at the event on Facebook, calling it absurd to spend a quarter of a million on a parade when people are struggling to find housing.
Andy Maar said this was an attempt to play people off against one another. He said the amount was not just for the parade, but for the full organisation of Pride Week, and did not even cover the complex security aspect.
While Pride is certainly a political topic, Maar said, it was not the way it was depicted by the ADR. It is not about a political ideology, but about human rights. "The only group behaving in an ideological manner is the ADR," he told RTL Radio, pointing out that the political party allows hate comments to remain published in response to its social media posts, something he deems "grossly negligent". After MP Tom Weidig received a warning for a queer-hating post, ADR leader Fred Keup recently drew criticism for calling people "freaks". Maar said this was a troubling development and should not be allowed to pass without comment.
Maar said he can appreciate that there are people who don't understand the LGBTIQ+ movement, who have lost sight of the issue due to abbreviations. However, anyone is welcome to visit the "Rainbow Center" in the city to ask questions and also to talk about critical topics. The doors are always open. And Pride is also a good opportunity to engage in conversation with the queer community, he added. It's not about isolating oneself.
Pride is an invitation to society as a whole to "celebrate colourful coexistence," Maar concluded.
Politically, Luxembourg has already done a lot to combat discrimination. However, the Grand Duchy is stagnating in international comparison. There has been no significant progress since 2018, according to Maar. Rosa Luxembourg sees the greatest need, among other things, in dealing with trans and intersex people.
