The 2025 LGBTQ+ Pride proclamation stands up to the reactionary wave: "Not one step back."

The word freedom surrounds Madrid's Plaza de Pedro Zerolo today. It is the freedom to love whoever you want, without complexes, without punishment, without fear. Also, and perhaps more importantly, the freedom to be and exist. All these freedoms were felt today in the music, in the gestures, even in the clothing of the thousands of people who came to this iconic location in the Chueca neighborhood to attend the kickoff of Madrid's LGBT+ Pride week.

The event was hosted by La Plexy, a drag queen who has become an icon of Madrid Pride (MADO), especially the opening speech, which she has been presenting for over two decades without missing a single performance. From the stage, she took the opportunity to assert her rights: "Never take a step back. We must move forward. There are many things to solve, but step by step, things are being achieved."

This year, Blanca M. Rodrigo, Carlos González, and Yenesi were in charge of giving the opening speech. They are the protagonists of Mariliendre , the latest series from Los Javis, tells the story of a woman who accompanies and supports gay men in their process of acceptance. “Being a mariliendre is like being the Pied Piper of Hamelin with the mice,” explains Heido Balduz, who considers herself a mariliendre and is very happy with the series and the announcement poster. “She's a figure who takes care of us. She acts as a bridge and helps us accept ourselves,” explains her friend, Jesús Gormaz, who is with her in the front row and has championed the bisexual reality: “It's very under-represented.”

“This year, I'm going to ask that we all be united,” La Plexy said minutes later. “There can't be subgroups within our group. If we're separated, we lose strength.”

Several of the artists who took the stage expressed their concern about the global wave of reaction that threatens these small advances. One of the most alarming news stories came from Europe, specifically from Hungary , where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán banned the Budapest Pride demonstration. However, despite the ban and the planned far-right demonstrations, the event ultimately took place and was a resounding success.

For actress Yenesi, who plays Leo in the Los Javis series, you don't have to go as far or be as extreme as Orbán to be a cause for concern. "Just a few months ago, the government of this region [Madrid] was attacking LGBTQI+ rights by refusing to eliminate fake conversion therapies," she said, referring to President Isabel Díaz Ayuso's decision in February to ally with Vox to vote against considering these tortures a crime . "Conversion therapies are what you fucking Nazis need," the actress added.

Influencer Samantha Hudson's speech also referenced these pseudotherapies just days after Congress began the process of making them punishable by prison . "Let them not fool us. No to conversion therapies or to the mother who gave birth to them. No matter how hard they try, we will not cease to exist," she said after performing her version of Gritando Amor , this year's Pride anthem, with Luis Miguélez.

Several politicians attended the event, including the Minister of Equality, Ana Redondo (PSOE), the Socialist spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, Mar Espinar, the spokesperson for Más Madrid, Manuela Bergerot, the PSOE spokesperson in Madrid City Council, Reyes Maroto, and the Councilor for Family Policies, José Fernández (PP), among others. Redondo also called for resistance against "the reactionary wave" that seeks to "return LGBTQI+ people to the closet."

This Pride has a powerful symbolic meaning: this Thursday marks 20 years since the passage of the Equal Marriage Law in Spain, which allowed same-sex couples to marry and adopt. Spain is currently the fifth-best country in Europe for LGBTQ+ status: down one year from last year, but up five years compared to 2022.

The Spanish decline comes in the same year that initiatives have been introduced to curtail established LGBTQI+ rights, as has happened in Valencia and Madrid, where the Popular Party controls both the regional and municipal governments.

Currently, 63 United Nations countries penalize non-heterosexuality. There, non-conformity is sufficient grounds for persecution, imprisonment, or murder.