Protests in Venezuela after discriminatory actions against a gay couple at a pizzeria | international | News

Activists, human rights advocates and members of the LGTBI community protested this Saturday against discrimination against two young men Friday night at a Karaoke pizzeria in Caracas, where they were expelled for dancing while holding hands, while dozens of other couples were also expelled. did that. Without being penalized, according to Eve.

On Saturday afternoon, they stationed themselves in a central square in the capital and then drove to the place where the events took place, where they came in, hugged and danced, in protest, this time, without the directors of the building – approved today by the Caracas Mayor’s Office in Chacao Municipality due to “discrimination” – objecting.

The warning was based on the decree passed by the Chacao Municipal Council, on August 9, 2016, which aims to promote equality and “prevent, punish and eliminate all forms of discrimination in any of its manifestations”.

Additionally, throughout the day, network users criticized the events, marking the hashtag #VeraPizza as the fourth trend on Twitter in Venezuela.

Given the repercussions of the event, the company posted a statement on the networks apologizing and trying to justify its intention to maintain a “family and fun atmosphere” in the building and that they had “always been an all-round company” with customers and employees, a statement that did not align with what had happened.

Hours later, when he learned that the LGTBI community had called a protest, a person in charge of the organization asked to meet the group members for a “dialogue,” but limited the conversation to repeating the content of the statement.

And it was at the time when this dialogue was taking place, when the activists arrived at the headquarters peacefully, and entered to end their demands for the dances and hugs they had been forbidden the day before.

During the protest, Danny Toro, one of the youths fired last night, addressed the workers and the building manager to express his rejection of “a discriminatory act against the LGTB community” that “does not benefit the country”.

“Because we cannot remain silent, because events like that which happened yesterday cannot remain as something else that happened, and that is why we have decided to come here with a tone of protest, and vindication, and to seek that acts like those of yesterday do not do,” Toro said within the institution.

The manager replied that “people of all kinds” were always greeted and respected on the premises, despite the fact that on a Friday night, Evie was able to verify that this was not the case.

“VeraPizza will always be open to everyone,” he said, while publicly apologizing to those who attended the appeal made by human rights organizations such as Caleidoscopio Humano, País Narrado, Movimiento Somos and Unión Affirmativa.

For her part, human rights defender Susanna Rafali accompanied the protest in solidarity with those affected and confirmed that she was present as part of a social movement “because what is done in denouncing discrimination is denouncing everyone.”

“Venezuela is a very divided country, hard hit by exclusion and we can’t add to that,” said Ravalli, who celebrated building space to “fix this and start over as agreed.”