A Pride event fulfills many roles: first and foremost, it’s the loudest and most crucial platform for political demands for equality, protection, and recognition of the LGBTIQ+ community members. At the same time, Pride offers visibility for an otherwise underrepresented minority within society. It serves as a safe space as well as a platform for queer art and culture.
Especially in the cultural area, many people expect a diverse and appealing program that equally represents all community members and responds to their needs. Pride often offers a festival-like atmosphere without being a commercial festival. Participation in Pride must always be guaranteed.
To provide such a program for all participants, we rely on strong partners who support us in meeting expectations. This includes renting and operating a stage complete with lighting and sound technology, setting up tents and sanitation facilities, and, of course, paying all artists.
We’re grateful to have a number of reliable supporters by our side over the years, helping us shoulder this work.
At the same time, as the national representative of the LGBTIQ+ community in Luxembourg, Rosa Lëtzebuerg has long been aware of the phenomenon of pinkwashing. We care a lot about knowing who we work with. In 2023, out of 32 partners and sponsors, 27 are signatories of the Charte de la Diversité in Luxembourg, and another is a signatory of a similar initiative in the Netherlands. For those where this is not yet the case, Rosa Lëtzebuerg has held or offered internal training sessions on „LGBTIQ+ in the Workplace“ in recent months.
Generally, cooperation is not based solely on Pride financing: most supporters receive internal consultations and training from Rosa Lëtzebuerg, for example, to guarantee a more inclusive work environment or to improve customer or citizen service.
Currently, about 44% of the total budget of Luxembourg Pride comes from sponsors‘ support. Each 18.5% comes from subsidies from the city of Esch and the ASBL frESCH (this as part of the follow-up program of Esch2022 projects). The remaining 19% consists of income during the Pride street festival, donations, or the reserves of Rosa Lëtzebuerg.
Since the preparations for Pride in the program of the European Capital of Culture 2022 in Esch-sur-Alzette, there has been a working group dedicated to the issue of pinkwashing. In a series of workshops open to all interested individuals, a Mission and Vision Declaration has been drawn up to guide us and our supporters, but also to be used as a guideline for refusing to work with partners who violate the principles of this statement.
Ultimately, it is important to us that Pride not only gives the LGBTIQ+ community a greater voice for its political demands and more visibility for queer lifestyles and queer culture, but also that all those with social responsibility live our values of equality and diversity in their daily work in order to guarantee a more inclusive environment for citizens and employees.
We are aware that the efforts around the dangers of pinkwashing are a constant work in progress. Are you interested in supporting us in this endeavour? Then get in touch with us!