Press Release for Rainbow Pride Mauritius 2007
One year after staging the country’s first-ever Gay Pride Festival, LGBT activists on the tiny African Island of Mauritius are returning to the streets once more to rally against the homophobia that touches their lives daily.
Rainbow Pride Mauritius begins Monday 28 May 2007 with a groundbreaking International LGBTQ Film Festival, brought to Mauritius by the . The weeklong festival will features award-winning movies from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, along with an appearance by gay filmmaker Paul Lee. Admission is free and open to the public.
Two more hallmark Pride events take place during the weekend. On Saturday 2 June, LGBTQ Mauritians and their allies will assemble for the country’s Second Annual Pride March, in the company of dignitaries, speakers and a diverse group of gay performance artists. That evening, Rainbow Pride will conclude with a dazzling soirée for the island’s LGBTQ community. Nearly a thousand people are expected to attend.
The organizer of the 2006 and 2007 Mauritian pride festivals is the Collectif Arc-en-Ciel, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ Mauritians and sensitizes the public about homophobia and discrimination. Partners for this year also include the Embassy of France and the Embassy of South Africa.
In addition to challenging the stigma that homosexuality carries in Mauritius, Rainbow Pride 2007 will galvanize support for a Parliamentary bill that would decriminalize sodomy. According to existing laws, consensual sodomy is punishable by five years in jail.
Reflecting on this new campaign, organizers at the Collectif Arc-en-Ciel told the press: “Everyone has a right to live, to think and to love, regardless of their sexual orientation. Therefore, our hope is to create a society where sexual diversity is celebrated, and where the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons are protected under law.”
List of Activities:
Event: International LGBT Film Festival
Date & Time: 28th May to 1st June 2007, 19h-22h
Location: Centre Culturel Charles Baudelaire, Rose Hill Mauritius.
Event: 2nd Annual Rainbow Pride March
Date & Time: 2nd June 2007, 11h
Location: Rose Hill Municipality, Mauritius
Event: Rainbow Pride Party
Date & Time: 2nd June 2007, 22h30
Location: Kart Loisirs, Petite Rivière, Mauritius
Contact Information for Collectif Arc en Ciel:
Thierry de Ravel (President) thierry@publico.mu cell : +230 422 4119
Audrey Kelly (Vice President) audreyk@intnet.mu cell : +230 732 68 87
Nicolas Ritter (Pride Coordinator) nritter@intnet.mu cell : + 230 729 98 80
Press release done by yours truly...
Labels: festivals, things that make me happy
