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Thousands of members of the LGBT community marched to celebrate International LGBT Pride Day Saturday with participants in several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean taking to the streets to demand respect for their rights.
In Peru, thousands marched in the capital city of Lima marking the day of pride demanding their rights be respected.
In El Salvador, the marchers flooded the main streets with the colors of the rainbow, music, and slogans, joining other commemorative events on the day around the region.
According to EFE, nearly 6,000 persons from San Miguel, Santa Ana, and the capital took to the streets to mark the day.
In Mexico, the LGBT members demanded more representation and called on the country's next president to respect their rights, on the eve of the general elections.
In Ecuador, the celebrations took place Saturday as hundreds took to streets in Quito demanding their rights be respected.
To mark the celebrations, several events were held during the month in some countries.
Brazil celebrated its 22nd anniversary of hosting pride parades on June 3 held under the banner "Elections: Power for the LGBTI+ Our Vote, Our Voice," which sought to influence the upcoming elections in Brazil, with Sao Paulo considered to be one of the most "gay-friendly" cities in Latin America.
The Pride Barbados 2018 celebrations kicked off last week at the United Nations (UN) House where the founding member of the Barbados Gays and Lesbians Against Discrimination (B-GLAD) Ro-Ann Mohammed stating it was all about inclusivity.
"It is really about a celebration of diversity and to celebrate inclusivity... It is about a celebration of the diversity of who we are as people and Caribbean people and Barbadian people," Mohammed said, according to St.Lucia News online.
"Pride is really to celebrate our diversity as queer people and say that being LGBT is not something to be ashamed of, or embarrassed of, and not something that needs to be hidden. It is something that should be celebrated just as people with all sorts of different abilities and different talents," she added.
Earlier in January, in a landmark advisory statement, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, IACHR, stated that the American Convention on Human Rights requires the countries to allow same-sex couples access to civil marriage and all of the rights and benefits that derive from it.
The court also opined that the governments should allow people access to a fast, easy and cost-free process, to change their name and gender marker on official documents, in accordance with their self-perceived gender identity.
Of the 20 countries that form the American Convention only Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Uruguay recognize same-sex marriage nationally.
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