WILLEMSTAD - The Gay Pride was held for the seventh time in Curaçao last week. According to the organization, more than a thousand LGBTs and their sympathizers ran a record in a colorful procession from the Riffort in Otrobanda, via the Pontjesbrug to Wilhelminaplein.
The Pride Walk was the highlight of the Pride Week on Curaçao where a few parties and gatherings were also scheduled.
The Pride Walk started seven years ago with a handful of people in a parking lot just outside Willemstad, but has since grown into a true folk festival. The LGBT community is accepted and companies are also going to sponsor the annual event.
"A very good development," said one of the organizers in the local media. He also called on politicians to hurry with the bill that should make same-sex marriage possible. A year ago, during the Pride, a call was made to open up marriage to same-sex couples.
A bill was submitted in June this year stating that marriage should not be restricted to a man and a woman alone. The bill is now being reviewed by the Advisory Council and will be submitted to Parliament shortly. If the law then reaches a majority, the marriage in Curaçao will also be opened to same-sex couples. The chance that the new law will actually succeed seems small because both the population and politicians do not seem ready for the legalization of same-sex marriage.
In Curaçao marriage is still not open to same-sex couples. The island also has no registered partnership for gay couples. A same-sex marriage can, however, be credited to the civil status of the island. A marriage between two people of the same sex performed in the Netherlands is valid throughout the Kingdom. So also on Curaçao.