Thousands march in South Africa’s 1st Pride since COVID-19 lockdown – March 31, 2020
March 31, 2020 – Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of South Africa’s Rainbow Nation on Saturday to mark the first Pride festival since the country’s coronavirus lockdown was announced.
The event was led by the South African LGBT organisation Gay Rights Network, and included speeches by government ministers and the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, who described gay and bisexual people as “in the heart of everything South Africa stands for”.
Speaking at a meeting on the sidelines of this year’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, South Africa’s foreign minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, described the government’s efforts to protect the African continent’s “biggest continent” by fighting the spread of coronavirus, and fighting “all forms of exclusion, violence and discrimination”, as her country’s “greatest responsibility”.
“There is no doubt that we as a country, as a continent, and as entire human beings must rise to meet the challenge of COVID-19 and deal with the challenges that it provides,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.
“The LGBT community has never suffered from any discrimination or a lack of support from the government and there is never a time when the community does not demand and continue to ask for change in the way the country responds to these challenges.”
The Pride festival, which has been taking place every year since 2004, marked the first time Pride has been held since the coronavirus was discovered in February.
The event, which was organised by the Rainbow Nation LGBT group, included speeches by government ministers and the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, who described gay and bisexual people as “in the heart of everything South Africa stands for”.
The head of the country’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Sibusiso Dlamini, told the gathering that gay people have always been the “backbone of South Africa”, and that he has always advocated for their freedom, calling them “partners