Gaborone Pride paints CBD in rainbow colours
Sharon Mathala | Tuesday October 4, 2022 06:00
The flag composing vibrant colours represents many aspects of the community, and hence it came as no surprise on Saturday when Gaborone was painted bright.
Indeed the streets of the city centre were bright and colourful as the fourth Gaborone Pride event took place. The event started with a 2km demonstration march around the Gaborone Central Business District (CBD) area.
The festivities continued with a fun-filled afternoon of music and fashion. Event organiser Olivia Maswikiti, who is the founder and chairperson of Gaborone Pride, explained that the main aim of the march and demonstration was to celebrate and raise awareness around the community.
“This morning’s events are all about unity, diversity, inclusivity, and making sure that the LGTBQI+ community is known and seen. We want to make sure that going forward policymakers know where we are. We are tired of being told 'we cannot make a policy change for one person'.
This is us making a statement to say we are here and you can see us,” Maswikiti told The Monitor on the sidelines. She continued: “Basically, we have had three Pride events, the first event was here at the Three Dikgosi Monument in 2019, after the decriminalisation of same-sex sex case.
Then, unfortunately, COVID-19 happened and the two consecutive events after were virtual where we had to pre-record and stream live to have everyone engage.
We had always been going to other countries to attend the Pride celebrations so it was about time we hosted our own and bring Pride home.” Several LGTBQI+ members and supporters flocked to the Three Dikgosi venue dressed to the nines. Notably, most attendees came dressed in the rainbow flag colours telling The Monitor that their outfits were inspired by the ‘journey of life.’ One of the attendees, Seipone Boitshwarelo said: “After the two years of COVID-19, the Pride march was a space of need for the queer community of Botswana.
The turnout was great from the previous events we had and I think because of the success of the decriminalisation case, people are now starting to freely express themselves and they now feel safe and secure.” The Gaborone Pride event is an annual event which takes place in the last quarter of every year.