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Photos: Ariel Gutraich.

With festivities, color, and plenty of glitter, Buenos Aires celebrated diversity with thousands of people filling the streets. The event kicked off in a packed Plaza de Mayo, followed by a massive march that, after winding down Avenida de Mayo, ended at nightfall at the National Congress. The 27th LGBTIQ+ Pride March began at 11 a.m. under rain and continued under sunshine. There was a fair and vendor booths, and by 2 p.m., thousands of people were arriving at the epicenter of the celebration. On stage, Nadia Echazú read a statement, agreed upon by the organizations that make up the march's organizing committee, as the day began.

The demands included: “Stop the transvestite and trans genocide; stop the austerity measures; legal, safe, and free abortion for people with the capacity to gestate; approval and effective implementation of the transvestite and trans employment quota throughout the country; urgent passage of an HIV law; separation of Church and State; stop lesbophobia and acquittal for Higui de Jesús and Mariana Gómez, among other demands.

#Pride2018 Gustavo and Abril are father and daughter. This is their first time at the March. “I asked her to come with me because it’s important for me to be here,” Abril says. “I had never come before, and now I came for her, who is 14 years old and is finding her way.” pic.twitter.com/PJHH6bY5d5

— Agencia Presentes (@PresentesLGBT) November 17, 2018

Also during the afternoon, in the impasse During DJ Jara's set, various members of the trans community read their messages. "We are targets of persecution, exclusion, and stigmatization. Stop the trans genocide," said trans women. Intersex people took to the stage to reclaim the color yellow, "which doesn't belong to the government or the Vatican," they declared. And they demanded that medicine "stop making decisions about our bodies and that the justice system stop making decisions about our genitals. Freedom and visibility for intersex identities!"

🇦🇷🌈 #Pride2018 The sixth-year students of the Instituto Fuente de Agua Viva evangelical high school in La Matanza. "We want comprehensive sex education in all schools, legal abortion, and the freedom to love." pic.twitter.com/Xw6DTubH1J

— Agencia Presentes (@PresentesLGBT) November 17, 2018

Trans men specifically requested that the gender identity law for people deprived of their liberty be respected.

🇦🇷🌈 #Pride2018 🇦🇷🌈 #NonBinaryPride "Visibility and depathologization of non-binary identities" pic.twitter.com/Pgumjsgq9u

— Agencia Presentes (@PresentesLGBT) November 17, 2018

Non-binary individuals also asserted their identities: “We want upbringings free from binary impositions by families and the education system. Visibility and depathologization of non-binary identities!”

🇦🇷🌈 #Pride2018 🇦🇷🌈 #Pride2018 and Mariano came from Rosario to experience the 27th Buenos Aires Pride March. #LoveIsLove #ToTheStreetsWithPride #WeAreNotGoingBackInTheCloset pic.twitter.com/OnWk4yLhSP

— Agencia Presentes (@PresentesLGBT) November 17, 2018

There was plenty of music: Ayelén Beker and Mimi Maura performed their songs on stage. They left the audience energized for the grand finale, performed by Jimena Barón, who electrified the plaza before the march.

“It was an impressive march, with the Plaza packed from early on. Slogans with political messages could be heard amidst the joy of being who we are. We are thrilled to be able to create a space for celebration despite all the setbacks,” María Rachid, coordinator of the Argentine LGBT Federation (FALGBT), told Presentes. “We estimate that more than 400,000 people participated throughout the day,” she added.

Many attendees complained: Jimena Barón used the expression "the transvestites." Some activists also highlighted the lack of militancy in this march, which they considered "watered down" compared to previous years. "This is a party for the few, because abolitionists and poor transvestites who see prostitution as oppression are not invited. The trucks used to demonstrate the power of the organizations," trans activist Alma Fernández told Presentes. She added, "We want to say that our pride will not be given away to the city, to Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, or to Macri's party. There is no celebration with austerity and repression."

Starting at 5 PM, the floats began their procession down Avenida de Mayo towards the National Congress amidst a growing festive atmosphere and numerous demands for legal abortion and funding for the HIV/AIDS program. "We die without medication" and "No to healthcare cuts" were among the slogans displayed on signs. After 8 PM, all the floats arrived at the Congress, where the closing stage awaited. There, the final statement was read. "We, the dissidents, don't live in a bubble. We are workers and we suffer the effects of austerity. The new right-wing wave means that today, for kissing, two men were kicked out of a pizzeria in Palermo and two women were expelled from the San Telmo Market. The austerity, violence, and discrimination we are experiencing have those responsible: this government. Macri and the Church are anti-rights. But the feminist and dissident wave is going for more."