Bermuda to have first Pride march after legalizing gay marriage

Bermuda will have the first Pride event in the territory’s history after gay marriage was legalized there last year.

Bermuda’s first Pride march is slated to take place Aug. 31, nearly a year after the British island territory again legalized same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court had legalized gay marriage in May 2017, but Bermuda became the first national territory in the world last February to repeal its gay marriage legislation.{mosads}

Supporters of the Pride event called it a “huge step” forward for the LGBTQ community there, according to the Royal Gazette.

“There is an inherent value in a public celebration of our LGBTQ community in Bermuda as a reminder that we exist and that we are members of the Bermuda community,” a spokesperson for OutBermuda, the main sponsor of the march, told the news outlet. “It is also a beacon of hope to LGBTQ youth and others who feel that they are alone.”

Winston Godwin-DeRoche, who helped lead the charge in overturning Bermuda’s same-sex marriage ban with his husband, said a march in Bermuda is just the first step in the fight toward equality.

“We are still fighting for equality in Bermuda,” he said.

Pride parades have existed in the U.S. for decades, long before the Supreme Court in 2015 legalized same-sex marriage.

Several countries around the world, most recently Ecuador, have celebrated same-sex marriage being legalized in recent years.