The Rainbow flag hangs from early in the morning on the facade of the Barcelona City Hall and will shine throughout the day for the celebration of Pride! BCN. “We will continue working so that Barcelona continues to be an inclusive city that guarantees and recognizes the rights of all its citizens,” said Javier Rodríguez, Commissioner for Childhood, Adolescence, Youth and LGTBI Policies in response to the letter that Vox sent the mayor urging to remove the flag.
As was done on June 28 to commemorate the International LGTBI Pride Day, the Rainbow flag once again decorates the facade of the consistory, thus joining the Pride, which began on July 3 and will end tomorrow, Sunday. This afternoon the LGTBI Pride Demonstration will be held, which will leave at five in the afternoon from Parque de las Tres Xemeneies and, after touring the Paralel, will culminate on Avenida Maria Cristina, where the manifesto will be read.
In a letter signed by the VOX councilor, Liberto Senderos, this formation called for the withdrawal of the Rainbow flag “from the public space of common use” considering that “it constitutes an exclusive and collectivist claim.” In the letter, Vox maintains that “of course, the ‘LGBTI flag’ lacks valid legal recognition as an official symbol in any territorial administration and therefore can only be described as partial and electoral insofar as, associated with a part of the identified citizens with said unofficial flag, it is not representative of the majority of citizens who do not belong to that group or do not align with said option” and cite two sentences, one from 2018 and another from 2020 of a sentence from 2020 two sentences.
In its letter, this party insists that “the town hall is a public space, representative of the Spanish State in each locality, so it is the institutional flags that must be displayed, starting with the national ensign, which is the one that best represents to the Spanish people, their unity and plurality”.
In its forceful response, the municipal government considers that the two sentences to which VOX refers (for the withdrawal of two pro-independence flags) are not applicable in this case and that “the LGTBI flag will continue to hang in the City Hall and where appropriate”. In the letter, signed by Javier Rodríguez, the guide to measures for LGTBI equality is attached, “written in an easy-to-read format, so that they can know the contents of the Law that guarantees the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and intersex and to eradicate homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, which includes a glossary of terms that I urge you to use, referring to the councilor of Voz Liberto Senderos, and your colleagues from the municipal group when referring to the LGTBI collective.
