Many Russian-speaking people from different Post-Soviet countries participated in the annual Pride walk that took place in Amsterdam on July 30, 2022. Traditionally, Pride walk is the first event with which Pride week starts in Amsterdam. Although Pride walk is more of a celebration of the achieved rights of LGBT+ people in Dutch society, it is also a demonstration and a march that aims to draw attention to the problematic situation of LGBT+ people in other countries.
Unfortunately, current Russian authorities are becoming more and more hostile toward LGBT+ people. They have adopted and implemented various homophobic policies domestically and they aim to force such policies on other Post-Soviet countries. Joined participation of Russian-speaking people in the 2022 Amsterdam pride walk aimed to increase the visibility of LGBT+ people from Russia and other Post-Soviet countries. Such joined participation of Russian-speaking people in Pride walk happened also last year.
After the walk, which started at Dam square and finished in Vondelpark, Russian-speaking participants stayed in Vondelpark and socialised. There were some free drinks provided by those who organized the Russian-speaking participants of Pride walk (LGBT World Beside, RusLGBTIQ and International LGBT in the Netherlands). Besides that, two tickets for the Tropikali festival 2022 – ‘Sunset’ were raffled.
We are grateful to all the participants, organizers and partners of this event.