Mayor leads Panama gay rights parade

PANAMA MAYOR Jose Isabel Blandon, headed the city’s 11th Gay Pride parade of over 400 people on Saturday, June 27 calling for the understanding of sexual diversity. The theme was: Democracy is Diversity.”

Among the marchers who started at Via Argentina and progressed along Via Espana to El Carmen Church before completing a circle leading to the other end of Via Argentina were the country’s ombudsman, representatives of NGO’s and a strong contingent from the US Embassy, marking the announcement the day before of the Supreme Court decision ruling that gay marriages were allowed in all states.
 Blandon, the first mayor to get involved in the annual event, said that Panama needs to begin to “build an inclusive society where no one is discriminated against for any reason.” human rights associations demanded the attention not only to gay rights, but also to all excluded groups.in Panama
The Panama Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender group (LGBT) looks for the local adoption of measures in their favor, like the recent decision of the US Supreme Court
Blandon made a call to society to be more inclusive and tolerant. He said that inclusion is not only a challenge that the government must assume, but the entire population. “We have to put the issue finally on the table and the discussion must be done.”
He added that the failure to discuss the issue will not make it go away, because “there are a lot of Panamanians whose human rights are being denied.
Ricardo Beteta, president of the Association of New Men and Women of Panama (AHMNP) and one of the organizers of the activity,
He acknowledged that “Panama has a great way to go, but we will continue working for the state to recognize sexual orientation and gender identity as a matter of law.”
He announced that in July the AHMNP intends to present a document to the National Assembly in which it will be asked to legislate legal equality for same-sex couples.