Na drugi Paradi ponosa Maribor smo gostili številne govorke in govorce, ki so v svojih nagovorih izpostavili pomembne izkušnje, vidike, perspektive in želje v boju za enakopravnost in vidnost ter proti diskriminaciji LGBTQIA+ oseb. Ker želimo, da se njihove besede ne pozabijo, jih bomo v teh tednih posamično objavili in vabimo k branju ter razmisleku!

Govor Yuukija Gaudiusa, podpredsednika organizacije FVG Pride

Dear sisters, brothers and siblings,

it’s a great honor to be here, today, representing Friuli Venezia Giulia Pride, in front of all of you. You’re really wonderful! I’m sorry I don’t speak Slovenian, so my speech will be in English.

As a border land, Friuli Venezia Giulia is a colorful mix of ethnicities and cultures. People from Friuli Venezia Giulia are not italians; we are a mix of identities, each one speaking differently and having different cultures and history. Among us there are also Slovenian minorities who speaks Slovenian and share part of your culture. These minorities have been overlooked and neglected for far too long.

Our regional governor, a rightwing politician, does nothing to empower the Slovenian community or the LGBTQ community. Instead, he spreads hate against LGBTQ people choosing not to support any of our initiatives and to cut fundings for our bullying prevention program in schools. He chooses not to listen to our needs and our call for help. His nationalist policy has come to the point that two years ago, in June 2019, he stated his intention to build a wall on the border between Italy and Slovenia!

Then it came COVID-19 and our lockdown to worsen the situation. The pandemic has been a great excuse used by rightwing politicians to promote their biased agendas in all Europe, taking away our right to protest and demonstrate in our defence. Divide et impera, split them up and rule them, they say in my country, and so now we have the so-called “Višegrad Group” to face and our Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Slovakian siblings to take care of.

This is why we decided to host our parade in Gorizia and Nova Gorica, the cities which lie on that border. A border that must be a threshold to cross with joy, a bridge between our worlds that let us unite in a new, bigger, stronger family, to discover new horizons and give birth to a new love. A border that we won’t ever let become a barrier between us, a wall built to divide. We are the Schengen generation, for us borders are just annoying leftovers of cis-hetero-patriarchy that we have to smash!

That’s why I’m proud to be here, with my Italian fellows, supporting our cause. I’m grateful to Maribor Pride for having answered our call and twinned our Prides. I’m grateful to you all to be here and to make everyone else see how many we are and how wonderful our community is!

I hope to see you all and more of you on the 4th of September in Gorizia and Nova Gorica. We must let our Countries know that no one can divide us, no one can touch an Italian or Slovenian sibling without facing our united forces. We must show Europe that they can’t mess with LGBTQ people and get away with it. We can’t do this alone but only together as one, so please be with us breaking through borders!

We are all equal, all different, all human and only together we will all be free!

Zate, zame, za nas, letos odmejimo pravice!

Hvala lepa in veselo parado!