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‘Today we can be ourselves’: LGBTI cry out for rights in Panama

Panama City, Jun 25 (EFE).- Holding hands, Aurielis and Ivon arrived Saturday smiling at one of the concentration points in Panama City to participate in a Pride march.

“Today we can be ourselves, without being judged. Not every day (members of the LGBTI community) can feel so calm,” they told EFE.

These two young women, under 20, are not a couple, but great friends and members of the LGBTI community, whose situation in Panama, in the opinion of both, “has been improving but remains complicated.”

In Panama, discrimination and stigma continue, and the rights of the sexually diverse community, such as civil unions or the right to gender identity, are ignored, leaders Ricardo Beteta and Franklyn Robinson told EFE.

“Obviously that’s why we love this day, because it’s the day we can be free,” said Aurielis, who wore multicolored makeup in line with the global image of Pride Day.

Marisol, a mature woman with multicolored hair and tattoos on her back, assured EFE that she participates in the Pride demonstrations because she supports the rights of sexually diverse people, including her daughter.

“Every year I participate (in the Pride march), I support the movement for my daughter and for most of my friends. I think about inclusion and acceptance, and that is what I support,” she said.

In the opinion of this mother, Panama is “advancing.” at least in the field of public opinion, in terms of LGBTI rights despite strong resistance from conservative sectors, represented by religious, civil and political groups.

We must promote “acceptance, more than anything, and rights. I totally support marriage” between people of the same sex, she said. EFE

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