Panama's Gay Pride Parade 2013:

On September 29 2013, at about two in the afternoon I found myself in Panama City… A friend had reminded me the day before that Panama’s Gay Pride parade was going to fall on the 29th this year. I took the metro bus to Via Argentina where the parade was set to begin. Inside the crowded bus I realized I was sitting near a transvestite.  She was wearing bright colorful clothes, a mask and flashing antennas. I watched closely as she retouched her makeup and perfume, I felt bad when I realized my curious glance was among other glares less friendly. Looks of astonishment, confusion and disapproval traveled back towards her seat.
I got off at the top of Via Argentina, Ricardo Cabrera followed suit. Ricardo Cabrera, a.k.a La Riguichi, was the the flashy transvestite racking up dirty looks on the bus. We spoke for a while as we walked towards the parade. She was funny, it made sense when she reviled she’s actually a well-known comedian. La Riquichi has attended all 9 Pride parades that Panama has hosted. I was already on a roll, showing up with a vetran.


We arrived just in time for the parade, joining a large crowd of equal rights supporters. There were more participants this year then ever before, around 1500 people gather for the celebration. Last year about 300 people attended. A group of transvestites luxuriously dressed waited anxiously on a float for the parade to start. Behind the float a marching band waited for the time to play their cheerful rhythms. The Las Tablas Carnival Queens were also in attendance, and the gay community was excited to say the least. The Guna Yala community even brought a delegation to the parade. I had just arrived, the parade had not yet begun, and my expectations were already greatly surpassed.


The parade began with social and political organizations showing their support. The FAD (Broad Front for Democracy - a recently formed political party), The United States Embassy, APLAFA (Panamanian Association for Family Planning) and the Balboa Union Church all marched for equality. The parade was led by Dr. Ricardo García Bernal, coordinator of UNAIDS Panama, who proudly carried the rainbow flag. The doctor was followed by representatives of different organizations, community members and of course the extravagant floats.



This year the theme of the parade was “We are many, and we have rights." Ricardo Beteta, leader of Panama New Men and Women Association, has been organizing the parade for the past 9 years. He works with the LGBT organization to promote and protect the human rights of Panamanian homosexuals, bisexuals, gays, lesbians and transgenderd people. This years parade sought to draw awareness to the prevention of HIV/AIDS. 



One of the special things about Panama’s Gay Pride parade is the presentation of the Great Pink Egg. The contest was created by The Panama New Men and Women Association in order to draw attention to the issue of stigma and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. The Great Pink Egg aims to publicly ridicule those people, public figures, institutions and / or organizations that discriminate against the LGBT community.

This year's winner was the journalist Alvaro Alvarado, who works for Telemetro Panama. Alvaro was nominated for keeping his silence when lawyer Sidney Sitton used language of hatred and stigmatization in an interview.

Panama’s Pride parade was extremely successful in raising awareness, bringing together community and rallying for the rights of the LGBT community. From this event I took away great friends, photos and a relieved feeling that Panama had taken huge strides in becoming a more progressive country. 

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