Timișoara Pride Week

Timișoara Pride Week, also known as Pride TM, is a festival dedicated to the LGBT community that takes place annually in Timișoara, Romania, since 2019. Chronologically, it is the third festival of its kind in Romania after those in Bucharest (2004) and Cluj-Napoca (2017). The first edition took place between 3 and 7 June 2019 and was organized by two local LGBT NGOs, Identity.Education and eQuiVox. The festival is funded by MozaiQ through the Community Fund and individual donations.

Timișoara Pride Week
NicknamePride TM
StatusActive
GenreLGBT pride festival
Date(s)June
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Timișoara, Romania
Years active2019–present
Participants1,200 (2023)
Activity
Organized by
  • Identity.Education
  • eQuiVox

History

2019: first edition

The first edition of the festival was organized between 3 and 7 June 2019. The events included, among others, a vernissage, an info bio show at the German State Theatre, a conference on LGBT rights hosted by the West University, a picnic in Queen Marie Park and parties in local venues.[1][2] The 2019 edition had as partners the Timișoara – European Capital of Culture Association, the Student Organization of the West University of Timișoara, the Timiș County Youth Foundation, as well as the West University of Timișoara.[3]

2022: first pride parade

The first pride parade took place during the fourth edition of the festival, held between 25 June and 3 July 2022. The march was attended by up to 1,000 people, among them the vice-mayor Ruben Lațcău from the Save Romania Union, representatives of the embassies of United Kingdom and United States, as well as parliamentarians from Norway.[4] The parade unfolded between C. D. Loga Park and Queen Marie Park and was overseen by important police forces and gendarmes to prevent any incidents.[5]

Unlike the first pride parade in Cluj-Napoca, whose registration applications were delayed 22 times and which was diverted from a more central route,[6] the Pride TM parade did not meet the opposition of the local authorities.

Editions
External images
image icon Pride TM 2022 at Inquam Photos
image icon Pride TM 2023 at TION
Edn.DateAttendance
1st3–7 June 2019No pride parade
2nd19 December 2020Online event[lower-alpha 1]
3rd6–14 August 2021No pride parade
4th25 June–3 July 20221,000[4]
5th24 June–1 July 20231,200[7]

Reactions

At first, the organization of the festival met the opposition of conservative far-right groups and local religious groups. For instance, Ionel Tuțac, president of the Community of Christian Baptist Churches in Timișoara, contested the manifestation and declared himself "dismayed" by the involvement of public institutions of culture and university education in hosting some events within the festival.[8] A similar position was held by the county councilor Mihăiță Bojin from the National Liberal Party, preacher at the Emanuel Baptist Church in Timișoara.[9] Also, small groups of priests attended some of the events as a sign of protest,[10] while some of the exhibitions were vandalized.[9]

However, over the years, public opinion on the subject softened, and the pride parades did not met significant opposition, such as organized counter-protests.

Organizers

eQuiVox

An informal group without legal personality, eQuiVox was born in the fall of 2018, as a reaction to the activity and homophobic discourse of the Coalition for Family.[11] The coalition's activity materialized in a national referendum to redefine the notion of spouses (currently gender-neutral) in the Romanian Constitution, held between 6 and 7 October 2018. The referedum was boycotted by almost 80% of the voters, which prompted eQuiVox to take the first steps towards organizing the first LGBT pride festival in Timișoara and western Romania.[11] Eventually, the first edition of Pride TM took place in the first week of Pride Month 2019, but it did not include a pride parade like the festivals in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca.

eQuiVox is the oldest of the two LGBT rights organizations in Timișoara, the only ones currently active. The first such organization was called LGBT+eam and was founded in 2006.[6]

Identity.Education

Identity.Education (stylized as +iE) also appeared in the run-up of the October 2018 family referendum. The first event co-organized by Identity.Education took place during the Human Rights Day celebrations, in December 2018.[12] Subsequently, in January 2019, it organized the first own cultural and artistic event, Q Talks.[12] In October of the same year, it organized the first edition of the LGBT History Month in Timișoara, observed in Romania since 2012. Also in October 2019, it received the official organizing documents from Romanian authorities.[12] The +iE Center was inaugurated in December 2021 and serves as a space for community events and exhibitions, as well as the office of the NGO.[12]

Notes
  1. Organized jointly with Bucharest Pride and Cluj Pride under the name Winter Pride

References
  1. Both, Ștefan (30 May 2019). "Pride TM - primul festival dedicat minorităților sexuale în Timișoara". Adevărul.
  2. Lugojan, Oana-Karina (6 June 2019). "Comunitatea LGBTQ este „loud and proud" săptămâna aceasta! Are loc prima manifestare PRIDE la Timișoara, care celebrează identitatea și diversitatea!". Express de Banat.
  3. "Picnic PRIDE, în parc, la Timișoara, cu reprezentanți ai comunității LGBTQ+". TION. 4 June 2019.
  4. Both, Ștefan (2 July 2022). "Prima paradă „Pride" din Timișoara. Sute de tineri au colorat străzile orașului și au strigat: „Iubire, iubire"". Adevărul.
  5. Hoster, Marcel (2 July 2022). "Străzile centrale ale Timișoarei s-au "colorat". Sute de tineri, la Marșul Pride TM". deBanat.ro.
  6. Dima, Ramona (2019). "Trends of Homophobic Activism in Romania, or 'How to Turn Religious Convictions into a Referendum and Still Fail'". In Buyantueva, Radzhana; Shevtsova, Maryna (eds.). LGBTQ+ Activism in Central and Eastern Europe: Resistance, Representation and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191. ISBN 978-3-030-20401-3.
  7. "Am fost peste 1200, cu 500 mai multx decât anul trecut. Mulțumim 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈". Identity.Education. 2 July 2023.
  8. Ardelean, Ramona (1 June 2019). "Manifestarea Pride Week, contestată de comunitatea baptistă". Observator de Timiș.
  9. Tollea, Vlad Marko (14 June 2019). "Conflictele din prima săptămână LGBT care a avut loc vreodată în Timișoara". VICE România.
  10. Tacu, Irina (11 June 2019). "PRIDE și curaj în Timișoara". Decât o Revistă.
  11. "eQuiVox – Timișoara". MozaiQ. 9 February 2021.
  12. "Raport activitate 2018–2021" (PDF). Identity.Education.
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