Multitudes Turn Out For 34th Pride Parade in Buenos Aires
Thousands of revelers took to the streets, against a political backdrop of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, and steep rise in hate crimes.
Featured Image: Photo by Alejandro Pagni/AFP via Getty Images
This past Saturday, on Nov. 1, thousands took to the streets of Buenos Aires in support of LGBTQ+ rights, marching under the slogan “Against hate and violence: more pride and unity.” The event was both a celebration of love, equality and solidarity, as well as a demonstration of resistance, and a demand for respect.
“Along with featuring vibrant music and colorful costumes, the event served as a political demonstration against what protestors argue are discriminatory policies by President Javier Milei’s government,” according to media outlet France 24.
This is the second major demonstration by the LGBTQ+ community this year. In February, Argentines brought rainbow fans and danced on protest trucks at the Federal Anti-Racist and Anti-Fascist Pride March in response to Milei’s comments against “sick wokeism” at January’s World’s Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. At the WEF, he spoke out against “radical feminism” and “gender ideology”, and referred to progressive policies as a “cancer that must be extirpated.”
Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is on the rise in Argentina, and hate crimes against the LGBTQ community has skyrocketed – up 70% in the first half of 2025 compared to last year, according to NGO Observatorio Nacional de Crímenes de Odio LGBT+ (National Observatory of LGBT+ Hate Crimes). About 70 percent of the victims were trans women, the NGO reported, gay men (16.7 percent), lesbians (6.9 percent), trans men (4.9 percent) and non-binary people (one percent).
The shift to the right shows no sign of letting up. Last month, Trump authorized a $20 billion bailout to Argentina amid the country’s worsening economic crisis (swapping U.S. dollars for Argentine pesos to prop up Argentina’s currency). The financial lifeline was contingent upon Milei’s success with midterm elections. The conservative La Libertad Avanza party did not disappoint.
Against this political backdrop, a multitude of activists, families, students and tourists gathered in Plaza de Mayo this past weekend in the city’s main square, and from there moved to the National Congress building to observe speeches and performances. One stage featured a Dua Lipa video. The artist, who performs this weekend in Buenos Aires, sent her best: “Today I want to celebrate with you and send you all my love and support on this very special day.”
Image via Facebook, Buenos Aires Times
Despite the revelry, many feel the undercurrent of unease. “I feel like it’s more dangerous for us now,” a 22-year-old participant told Buenos Aires Times. “The climate is more tense.” Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that three lesbians died in Buenos Aires after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into their boarding house room. Activists pointed to government rhetoric as stoking the hate. It is this brand of hate that this year’s demonstrators hope to squelch through resistance, unity and pride.
