Bizkaia’s LGBTI+ movement condemns the Bilbao Bizkaia Pride initiative for its economic interests
- In the communiqué issued by the Bizigay association, the initiative promoted by the Basque institutions has been criticised. As you have stressed, far from promoting sexual pluralism, the initiative responds to a purely economic interest and a determined strategy.
The Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the City of Bilbao have attended the annual meeting of the EPOA (European Pride Organisers Association) in Vienna to celebrate the Europride initiative in Bilbao. The next meeting, for the time being, has been scheduled in Bilbao, with a total of 24,000 attendees.
The association for pluralism and sexual freedom, Bizigay, has criticised the attitude of both institutions. The association considers that Bilbao Bizkaia Pride is another of the macro-initiatives being carried out in Bilbao on the occasion of the "initiative rush" of public institutions.
Bizigay has underlined that this is an initiative driven and organised without taking into account the LGBTI+ movement and that behind it there is a trade association that has only an economic interest. According to the association, “it is very striking that the initiative is promoted from the Department of Economic Development of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia” and not from the municipal or foral department responsible for social policies.
They have accused the City Council of Bilbao of being "hypocritical", as they seek to "justify the forbearance and serious errors made in the policies of plurality". As a sign of this drop, they have reported that the protocol against assaults by sexual orientation and gender identity has been on the air since 2016. In the same vein, they have stressed that they have deactivated the collaboration table with the Coordinator of 28 June for the design, monitoring and evaluation of municipal policies.
The institutions have also referred to the budget for the initiative. The Provincial Council of Bizkaia earns a budget of 70,000 euros to projects to work on affective-sexual and family diversity, which prevents receiving more than 15,000 euros from the project and the association. For its part, Bilbao Bizkaia Pride has allocated a total of €36,209.25 in 2018, more than half of the amount earmarked for partnership projects, and more than twice the amount a single project can receive.
The City Council of Bilbao and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia have censored the "priority trend" of "taking initiatives and attracting tourists". “In particular, by focusing on the letter G, they seek to attract homosexual men with medium-high purchasing power, as municipal and foreign officials have pointed out on more than one occasion.”
Piztu Bilbo, Piztu MTV also denounces the initiative
Agent Piztu Bilbo, who challenges the current city model and appeals to another Bilbao, Apaga MTV, has also made a clear statement on this issue: “First, culture, then sport and gastronomy, and now they want to commodify our identities and desires. We mean aloud, our identities and identities are not for sale.”
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