This was a very important event in Bolivia's LGBT timeline of events, and it was almost RUINED. Hope you like it. Source: "Ser Gay En Tiempos De Evo" by Edson Hurtado. This is not a translation, but an interpretation. Bolivia's Very First Gay Parade The first gay parade in Bolivia's history was to be held in Santa Cruz city in 1999. The authorities didn't really know what a gay parade was like, it was a new term for us Bolivians. They thought it was some kind of carnival party, so they didn't give much importance to it and thoughtlessly gave the LGBT community permission to hold the parade at the central square of the city. LGBT folks were very gay about the news! ("Gay" as in "happy"... pun intended). It wasn't until some bigoted "morality keepers" from town warned the authorities about the actual abomination that was about to happen next saturday that the Major himself decided to deliberately FORBID the event, simply because people in town didn't like the idea. Immediately, a very brave LGBT activist who also happened to be one of the parade's organizer went on fury. He assembled a press conference in which he stated as follows: "If we're not given the permission to hold the event, I'm going to publish a list of evey single politician and bussinessman who has gone through my little ass". One would think - "how many politicians can that be?, I don't think that threat will convince anybody". It's funny, but they were granted permission that very afternoon. The LGBT community was blissful! The event, despite the eggs, rock-throwing and insults, was a success. Thanks to this amazing LGBT activist who, despite the fact that he reinforced the promiscuous gay man stereotype, was a hero to all of us.
