Pride BCN 2018
This week, Barcelona is hosting the PRIDE BCN 2018, a celebration of love and diversity, a testament to the struggle for freedom, dignity and respect for the LGBTI community.
The PRIDE BCN 2018 is organised by the Acegal (the Catalan Association of Companies for Gays and Lesbians) of which Auris Advocats He is a partner, and Xavi Saula is one of the members of the Board of Directors.
PRIDE BCN 2018 for a good cause
This year, the PRIDE BCN 2018 is dedicated to LGBTI refugees, to those people who live in countries where falling in love with someone of the same sex or simply being true to oneself is grounds for torture, imprisonment and persecution, and who must therefore flee and seek asylum in another country.
Many of these people are seeking a new opportunity in our country, in our city. They travel far from their homes and families, often leaving behind comfortable lives to find a place where they can be themselves and live in freedom. We would like to join this initiative and ask that we do not close our doors; whilst it is true that welcoming people is complex, with initiatives like this – and through small gestures that we can all make – we can help to improve these people’s lives. From ACATHI They tell us about various initiatives that any of us can get involved in, ranging from making a financial donation, to incorporating this sort of activity into your company’s corporate social responsibility programme, to donating items to support them (from travelcards, computers or mobile phones, to mobile top-ups… to the professional services of a hairdresser or a dentist).
A small gesture on our part can mean a great deal to these people.
A plea to governments
Alongside the above – which are steps any one of us can take – we should also help ensure that our governments promote policies designed to guarantee the right to asylum, a right recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights. Because although it may sound like a cliché when talking about refugees, it is true that it could happen to you. And because Barcelona, Spain, Europe and the world are vast, and there is room for everyone; and because solutions can be found through dialogue and goodwill. We, as lawyers, know from our daily experience that most conflicts are resolved in this way.
And, finally, what is essential for a society in which the loss of values is all too evident is that we must explore the meaning of hospitality and nurture people who are committed to values such as human dignity and solidarity. Fostering a society that promotes hospitality means fostering a society that shuns extremism and encourages peaceful coexistence.
To summarise all of the above, as one of the messages in the PRIDE BCN 2018, it is that
“”We need to love one another more.".