Strengthening the insinuation that Pride for 2025 in Cagayan de Oro City has been hijacked by the local government, another network of community-based LGBTQIA+ organizations announced that it is severing ties and boycotting this year’s event.
CdeO LGBTQIA+ Federation is said to have severed ties with this year’s gathering, and will be boycotting Pride 2025. CdeO LGBTQIA+ Federation, a network of LGBTQIA+ organizations that had been helping organize Pride in Cagayan de Oro City.
But this network was basically “dissolved”, so that their representation was made unnecessary, according to Sephie Mikaela Violeta, who helms Diverse Berkadas. With this move, the city’s Gender and Development (GAD) basically bypassed the local LGBTQIA+ community in organizing this year’s Pride.
Diverse Berkadas works with the CdeO LGBTQIA+ Federation.
“The GAD, with its City Focal Person as a super head in this year’s Pride March, dissolved and ignor(ed) the CdeO LGBTQIA+ Federation… without proper consultation,” Violeta stated, adding that this move “severely undermine(s) the validity and contribution of LGBTQIA+ groups…”
Diverse Berkadas is asking for support in “demanding the GAD to be transparent on how this issue will be resolved.” This is relevant, according to Violeta, because they expect claims that the LGBTQIA+ community is well-represented, which will not be true since “majority of CdeO LGBTQIA+ Federation rejected the upcoming event.”
“The GAD… headed (by) its City GAD Focal Person, has failed in its duty to the LGBTQIA+ community of CDO, and we must send a collective clear response that (this) ignoring (of) the LGBTQIA+ community is very unacceptable.”
Earlier, Kahilwayan, the community organization helming the annual Pride celebration, alleged being eased out of the organizing of this year’s event, with the local government unit (LGU) – through the City GAD office – now claiming “ownership” of Pride in this part of Northern Mindanao.
Kahilwayan announced that it will not be joining the June 28 event.
