User:JimHawk/Luxembourg Pride

The Luxembourg Pride, formerly known as Gay Mat, is the national Pride parade in Luxembourg, held at the second Saturday of July aimed at raising visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTIQ) people and their allies. The street festival is usually preceded by a festival week with various events. Luxembourg Pride has been organised since 1999 by Rosa Lëtzebuerg, the national LGBTIQ rights organisation in Luxembourg.

From 1999 to 2009 the street festival was held in Luxembourg City, since 2010 the street festival has been held in Esch-sur-Alzette. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Pride edition was held entirely digitally for the first time. In 2021, a hybrid version was possible with a limited audience, but the events were also streamed simultaneously. In 2022, the Luxembourg Pride week will take place as part of the European Capital of Culture programme around Esch2022.

Name change: Gay Mat becomes Luxembourg Pride
From 1999 to 2018, Luxembourg Pride was held under the name "Gay Mat". The name goes back to a word play. If the first part of the name is pronounced in English and the second part in Luxembourgish, the phrase takes on the meaning "Come along".

For its twentieth anniversary, the queer festival was renamed into Luxembourg Pride. Rosa Lëtzebuerg explains that this change of name is due to the fact that many visitors who do not speak Luxembourgish would not be able to notice the word play. This would lead to the event being perceived as an exclusively gay-male event. The renaming is intended to reflect the inclusive nature of the event.

Luxembourg Pride Week
Pride Week has started annually since 2015 with a memorial ceremony to the victims of queerphobic violence at the National Resistance Museum, Luxembourg. Various events take place during the rest of the week including film screenings, conferences and panel discussions as well as parties.