Peru celebrated its first Pride march Thursday with two hundred demonstrators lining the streets, demanding equal opportunities and the right to a seat in Peru's parliament.
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"The law of gender identity, equal marriage, the law against hate crimes must be discussed," said Jorge Apolaya, an LGBTQ rights leader, pronouncing the bills that have been stalled in parliament in recent years.
Peru’s LGTBQ community is calling for courses on gender equity to be incorporated in education systems and in public policies.
One transexual rights activist, Briza, told local media, "In Peru there is a lot to work on, especially because the conservative majority force has been organized to make us invisible."
During the national conflict between 1980 and 2000, many members of the LGTB community were victimized by an onslaught of hate crimes throughout Peru’s Amazonian region. Others were killed.
A total of 22 Peruvian LGBTQ members were murdered between 2017 and 2018, a human rights observatory said in an annual report, according to Milenio media.
Peru’s Vice President, Mercedes Araoz, expressed her support for the Pride march, saying in a press conference Thursday: "We are watching over human rights, we are asking society to live in brotherhood ... the right to have a civil union and give the option to couples who love each other, the same opportunity as others.”
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