Within the framework of Trans Visibility Day, a representative flag of the community was raised at the City Hall at the initiative of the left-wing parties. Coins objected: “I am an institutionalist.”
The flag of the transsexual community was raised this Friday on the balcony of the Paços de Conselho da Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, on the day that International Transgender Visibility Day is celebrated. Councilor Paula Marques, from the Cidadãos Por Lisboa (CPL) association, which elected two deputies in 2021 on the PS lists, was the one who led the initiative, having published the moment on her social media.
At the raising of the flag, which took place at 11:00 a.m. this Friday, only representatives of the left-wing parties (PS, BE, PCP and Livre) were present. The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, nor any member of the most right-wing parties (PSD and CDS-PP) did not attend.
In the chamber meeting last Wednesday, the mayor had already expressed his opposition to raising the flag for institutional reasons. Quoted by Público, Carlos Moedas stressed that he is not opposed to “defending trans rights”, but stressed that he is an “institutionalist”: “We cannot go the way of continuing to put flags in our chamber here.”
Instead, the president of the capital presented other solutions, such as hoisting the trans flag in “other places”, “like in Praça do Município or even in the Campo Grande building”. The Town Hall “is the place where the Republic was established”, remembered.
“I think there is a respect that we have to have, which is the institution”Carlos Moedas continued, quoted by Expresso, referring to the fact that “either we have a criterion here, of what type of flag, and when”, or “if not, we could have different flags every day for different reasons”.
At the ceremony this Friday, Paula Marques responded to the statements made by Carlos Moedas at the meeting. “We are going to do it in the place where the Republic was proclaimed, yes, because the right to the Republic is the same as the right to difference, updated for today. And then this is the place suitable to make this gesture. Because it has a place where the Republic was proclaimed, it is the right place to give visibility to the difference, ”he shot.
At the Chamber meeting on Wednesday, the Citizens of Lisbon presented a proposal with four points, which focused on the rights of the LGBTI+ community. All were approved unanimously, with the exception of raising the trans flag, which had votes against the PSD and CDS-PP.
Source: Observadora
