05/22/2006
Mauritius Holds First Gay Pride
Activists on the tiny island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa staged the nation's first Gay Pride parade over the weekend in the town of Rose Hill.
Carrying hundreds of brightly colored balloons and waving banners saying "Viva sexual freedom!" and "To be gay is not a crime," the marchers danced, waved and handed out leaflets to bemused onlookers."I must say that I am very surprised to see this," said a local shop owner. "I've never in my life seen such a thing in Mauritius, but I think it's good because we need to be more open and like the rest of the world."
Other onlookers shook their head in disgust, saying that homosexuality was wrong and should not be allowed.
According to Reuters, Mauritius' 1.2 million population is made up predominantly of Hindus, Catholics and Muslims.
Said Thierry De Ravel, president of the gay rights group Collective Arc-en-Ciel (Rainbow Coalition): "The point of today is visibility. We want to show Mauritius that there is a gay community, that we want to be out in the open. We want to be respected and we want equal rights for all."
Mauritius Sees First Gay Rights March [washington post]
Related
Romania Holds its First Gay Pride March [tr]
Posted 12:00 PM EST by Andy Towle in Activism, Gay Pride, Mauritius | Permalink
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This is really inspiring to see! Sometimes we can get little jaded in the U.S. about fighting to LGBT equal rights. We truly are everywhere and it's good to see us standing strong for our right to be visibly queer and treated equally under the law.
Posted by: Michael | May 22, 2006 12:55:49 PM
Wow... good for them... reminds me of American gay pride marches back in the day, before they turned into the weird melange of marketing and partying that they are now. And that's quite a dress...
Posted by: Brian | May 22, 2006 12:57:54 PM
awesome : )
Posted by: giovanni | May 22, 2006 3:36:41 PM
This is great. I am from Mauritius and I never thought I would see a pride parade on the island in my lifetime. Allez les Rosilliens!!!!
Posted by: Dominique | May 22, 2006 6:23:52 PM
Cool, 20 years from now Mauritius too will be crawling with self-hating right-wing gays who bemoan the evils of celebrating gay pride day.
Posted by: Chad Hanging | May 23, 2006 12:18:18 AM
The world is changing....Happy Pride from Connecticut!
Posted by: katpop | May 24, 2006 6:34:18 PM
Thierry, YOU GO GIRL! YOU ARE ALWAYS A LEADER. Your San Francisco Family misses You!!! Biggest Huggs Bobby ....
Posted by: Bobby | May 26, 2006 5:00:50 PM
I was at the parade. It was an undescribable joy to be amongst the 1st people to walk proud and gay in Mauritius.
Cant wait for the next one!!!
Posted by: Emmanuel | May 29, 2006 5:21:41 AM
Congratulations!
Posted by: savvyplanners | May 29, 2006 3:04:32 PM
..OMG!!..This is absolutely great!!..I never thought i would c a gay pride in Mauritius!..Im so happy 4 the people who walked the streets of Rose-Hill and fighting for their rights!..Go on Guys!!..B Proud of who you Are!!!..Im Mauritian but ive been in England for 4 years now thtz y i was the last person to know!!!..You dont know how happy i am 2 hear that fantastic news!!..
Posted by: Dee | Jun 27, 2006 4:55:14 PM
i am mauritian too living n France and i am proud to see that the mauritian gay community is affirming itself. let's continue guys and girls
Posted by: chris | Sep 28, 2006 7:25:36 AM
hi
actually im doing a study on homosexuality in mauritius, and i badly need the contact number of Thierry De Ravel. can u guys let me have this number. he is the president of Rainbow Coalition in mauritius.
my mail add is nushrat18@yahoo.com
thnx.
Posted by: nuz | Mar 20, 2007 8:34:59 AM
BEEN THERE!!!DONE THAT!
IT'S A SHAME I'M NOT ON THE PHOTOGRAPH!!!
Posted by: Damien | Jul 14, 2008 11:21:27 AM
cool guys.b proud.
Posted by: dev | Jul 31, 2008 8:35:18 AM
This is great all mauritius needs now is a gay bar centraly located, can some one send me info on legal situation for this and aprox cost to set up. gusayuk@hotmail.com
Posted by: gus | Sep 25, 2008 10:45:13 PM
Good to hear that gay men in Mauritius are fighting for their rights. Well done brothers. You have my full support as a gay Mauritian man settled in Britain. Please email me the contact details of Thierry De ravel. Thanks
Nick
Posted by: Nick | Nov 19, 2008 2:23:37 PM
does anybody knows any gay disco/clubs in Mauritius... i really want to know whats the difference between a straight and gay disco... My email is collimateur@rocketmail.com... thanks for letting me know...
Posted by: annon... | Dec 29, 2008 5:55:21 AM