The first ever Pride Parade was held in Slovenia’s second largest city Maribor on Saturday, with some 800 people peacefully parading the city streets to spread a message of love, equality and inclusion, according to the organisers. The parade was attended by British Ambassador Sophie Honey, French Ambassador Florence Ferrari, the new chargé d’affaires at the US Embassy in Slovenia Susan K. Falatko, British Council Slovenia director Dragan Barbutovski, CEO of the British-Slovenian Chamber Chamber of Commerce Barbara Uranjek and numerous representatives of the Maribor city council.
The participants were addressed by Maribor Mayor Saša Arsenovič, British Ambassador Sophie Honey, Andra Camelia Cordos of the Romanian organisation Go Free, and Simona Muršec of the Ljubljana Pride Parade Association.
The speakers emphasised the importance of such events around the world in the light of the fight for equality of persons with different sexual orientations and for acceptance and inclusion of all. Also expressing support for the first Pride Parade in Maribor was also expressed by the UEFA president, Slovenia’s own Aleksander Čeferin, Köln Mayor Andreas Wolter and 19 organisations and companies from the city.
