Pride and resistance: Pride 2025 is against the law

June is not just the month when spring gives way to summer: it’s Pride Month, a season that celebrates the fight for the rights and dignity of LGBTQIAPK+ people. Since the 1969 Stonewall riots, Pride has become the symbol of a global battle against all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.

The roots of a revolution

On the night of June 27–28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a bar located in New York’s Greenwich Village, became the stage for one of the most important uprisings in LGBTQIAPK+ history. The Stonewall Inn was one of the few venues in the U.S. open to queer people, trans people, sex workers, and people of color at a time when homosexuality was still criminalized and heavily stigmatized. Police raids on LGBTQIAPK+ venues were a daily routine, marked by arbitrary arrests, violence, and public humiliation.

But that night, something changed. When police stormed the Stonewall, they were met not with resignation, but with anger and resistance. People of all identities, tired of suffering systematic violence and discrimination, spontaneously came together in protests that lasted for several days. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two Black and Latina trans women, were key figures in leading the resistance and giving visibility to those often excluded even within the movement. A year later, on June 28, 1970, to honor and celebrate that moment of courage, the first Christopher Street Liberation Day marches were held, with thousands taking to the streets in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. These events marked the beginning of a global movement of visibility, resistance, and LGBTQIAPK+ pride that still lives on today.

Pride in Italy: a history of courage and resistance

In Italy, LGBTQIAPK+ activism began with pioneering acts of protest, such as on April 5, 1972 in Sanremo, against the pathologization of homosexuality. In the 1980s and ’90s, collectives and transfeminist networks laid the foundation for what would become Pride marches, leading up to the first Rome Pride in 1994, which drew over 10,000 participants. In 2000, Rome hosted the World Pride—a global event that demonstrated the strength of a rooted and growing Italian movement, despite opposition from institutions such as the Vatican.

Dates not to miss: Pride 2025 in Italy

Here are some of the major Italian Pride events in 2025—key moments to raise our voices together:

• Padova Pride: May 31, 2025
• Torino Pride: June 7, 2025
• Roma Pride: June 14, 2025
• Roma Priot: June 14, 2025
• Genova Pride: June 14, 2025
• Milano Pride: June 28, 2025
• Milano La Marciona: June 21, 2025
• Palermo Pride: June 21, 2025
• Bari Pride: June 21, 2025
• Milano Pride: June 28, 2025
• Bologna Pride: June 28, 2025
• Salento Pride (Lecce): July 12, 2025

Pride is more than just a celebration

Pride is not a carnival or a colorful parade—it is a political, cultural, and social claim. It is a constant challenge to the patriarchal system and to injustice. It’s the inalienable right to live without fear, to love freely, and to affirm one’s identity. The rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, remains one of the many symbols of this fight.

Pride 2025 is OUTLAWED

This year, Roma Pride returns with a slogan that’s not just a statement: it’s a reality. Pride is “outlawed” because the community is still being mocked, kicked out of homes, beaten, and killed. They’ve tried to silence us, and that’s exactly why we must shout even louder. Rights denied, freedom denied. Far-right governments continue to deny the right to self-determination of our bodies, to build families, to exist without fear. People are accused of propaganda simply for existing. The most reactionary government in the history of the Italian Republic keeps shrinking our freedoms, enforcing exclusionary laws, and feeding hatred and censorship. In Europe, countries like Hungary have banned Pride and erased identities that don’t fit the gender binary. In the U.S., the Trump era has fueled division—even erasing the letter T from the Stonewall monument, ignoring the fact that the trans struggle is a fundamental part of our history.

The community’s key demands

Trans and non-binary people

We demand full rights to gender self-determination for everyone, including children and adolescents, through access to gender-affirming care based on scientific evidence, without bureaucratic or political obstacles. We reject the "watchful waiting" model and all forms of conversion therapy, which are tools of control that deny fundamental rights.

Rainbow families

We demand full recognition of all families, equal marriage rights, and legal recognition at birth for all children, regardless of the parents’ orientation or identity. We call for the repeal of the Salvini Decree, recognition of foreign birth certificates, and access to assisted reproduction, including ethical and solidarity-based surrogacy.

Civil and social rights

We demand laws that ensure full inclusion and protection from discrimination in every area of social life, from schools to workplaces, healthcare to justice.

Solidarity and peace

Pride stands against all war and oppression. We condemn violence against civilians in Palestine and Ukraine, call for ceasefires and the resumption of peace talks, and reject the instrumentalization of LGBTQIAPK+ rights to justify warfare.

Together

Whether you are an ally or part of this beautiful community, remember: no right should ever be taken for granted and gaining new rights never takes freedom away from anyone else. Together, we can achieve everything.