ABSTRACT
Pride events have spread across the world and today many of them attract several thousands of participants as well as a diversity of organizations and even commercial sponsors. In the light of this development there are good reasons to ask what Pride parades mean today. Should they be interpreted primarily as protest events or as occasions for celebration and entertainment? This chapter approaches the question of the meanings of contemporary Pride parades by aggregating the perspectives of the individual participants. The analysis is based on surveys of participants in 11 Pride parades in seven European countries (Czech Republic, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) and Mexico, in which the respondents were asked to articulate their motives for participating. Based on a qualitative analysis of the survey responses, 13 distinct motive types were identified. A quantitative analysis revealed that the different motive types varied depending on individual characteristics of the protesters, such as gender, age and education. Furthermore the analysis indicates that contemporary Pride parades in most cases remain rather politicized, with a significant portion of participants expressing protest oriented motives, with the highest proportions found in LGBT unfriendly national contexts.
