The roundabout of Deodoro Roca street in Sarmiento Park yesterday was once again the place of conflict due to the gay pride flag that had been flying on the mast since Friday by a municipal disposition of the mayor on the occasion of the commemoration of the International Pride Day LGTBIQ + that Every June 28, he remembers the riots that occurred in Stonewall (New York, United States), in 1969, and that started the homosexual liberation movement.
On Saturday three people tried to download it and unleashed the anger of the LGTBIQ + community. The same happened yesterday, even with riots, until they reached an agreement to lower the rainbow flag at zero o’clock, when Pride Day ended, and today hoist the Argentine flag at 8:30 in the morning.
In between, organizations in the sector recalled the violence that has lived in society for years. The Mumalá National Observatory detected that so far this year there have been 100 acts of hate violence in Argentina: 56 attacks, four crimes and 40 transfemicides.
Discussion
“I think there was a false discussion. Here is not a flag or another. Of course we are all Argentines and it is the flag that includes us all. What was attempted is to demonstrate, following Pride Week, the commitment of the Municipality to work for the real inclusion of sexual minorities, “said Miguel Siciliano, Secretary of Government of the Municipality of Córdoba.
He also recalled that 10 trans people were included in the Urban Servers program and that the objective is to generate real inclusion policies as well as a Permanent Diversity Forum.
A note signed by more than 200 organizations from different sectors at the national level supported the decision of the Cordovan municipality and repudiated what they called the lowering of the flag as a “vandalism” by the group that also destroyed the plaque explaining the decision of hoist the multicolored insignia.
But there were also other readings. From the Left Front they repudiated the actions of the ex-combatants, and were critical of the municipal government, which last year voted against the trans labor quota bill in the Deliberative Council.
For his part, the radical legislator Miguel Nicolás, issued a statement proposing to the communal chief Martín Llaryora the creation of another mast and there to include the flag of diversity, “if the mayor wants to include and not do political demagoguery.”
The facts
On Saturday three people, two of them ex-combatants from the Falklands War, lowered the flag as they considered it a violation of the national insignia. A group of passers-by recorded what happened and there were rejections and widespread rejection of the LGTBIQ + sector.
The Police had to intervene and the multicolored flag was raised and replaced (separate paper), because the one that had been raised was one belonging to Cuzco (Peru) very similar to that of pride.
But yesterday, Malvinas veterans gathered in Plaza San Martín to express their discontent with the municipal decision and then went to Sarmiento Park where they tried to lower the flag again. “We oppose it because it is not the flag that represents all Argentines. The flag of our heroes is the one we defended in Malvinas, ”said César Claudio García, a war veteran.
The groups that defend the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, intersexes, queers (LGBTIQ +) were called to prevent it. “We came because this flag represents that love can be lived in all its expressions,” said Romina, a self-convened young woman.
An unusual fight in the middle of a historic claim
In the middle of a strong discussion and struggle between the two sectors, yesterday a man with a red chinstrap who was next to the ex-combatants took out a chain and hit a girl and other people who were nearby.
The screams and signs could be seen in a video that moments later was broadcast on social networks.
The image seemed to repeat so many other disturbances generated throughout history in which militants of sexual diversity have claimed for their rights.
“Nobody is against the Argentine Flag. In fact, when they sang the National Anthem, we joined. We are all Argentines, but we no longer want the attacks and hate speeches that we receive today, ”said Gonzalo Valverde, from the organizing table of the Pride March.
“This demonstrates the true hypocrisy of society, which claims to be inclusive from the mouth out and when a government makes decisions in this regard, unfortunate events happen, such as those we have suffered for years,” concluded Ana Laura Torres Vera, member of Cordoba Diversa.
The original text of this article was published on 06/29/2020 in our printed edition.
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