“For me, pride is a lot of things. It’s an opportunity to remember the Stonewall riots and all the hardships that our community went through. Although many say that we do not need pride, I believe that Pride is still relevant nowadays and will remain relevant in the future,” explained one person

“Pride means that I’m proud of my son who’s gay. I want to support him, I love him to the moon and back and I just want him to be happy and thrive,” said a woman backed by her husband as they were holding a banner saying Drachma Parents – a group that offers a safe space for parents of LGBTIQ+ individuals to come-to-terms with their coming out process.

Meanwhile, another marcher illustrated how much Malta has changed in such a small amount of time by relating it with his own coming-out story. He opened up about gaining the courage to come out when he moved to the UK, despite feeling like he couldn’t do it in Malta.

However, upon coming back to Malta, he noticed a significant change in openness and safety.

“Pride is something that makes Malta a safer place for people like me to live. I would have never come out if I didn’t move to the UK and now having come back from the UK and comparing Malta to last summer, it already feels so much better. With events like this and people raising awareness, I can’t even imagine how much better the situation is going to be in the future.”

“All-in-all it’s just nice seeing things like this happen so younger people would be able to enjoy it more than we did and be a lot safer than we were. This summer I haven’t felt unsafe once and that’s a very good thing,” he concluded.

“Pride means representation which means that I get to be myself,” said another young boy.

We then stumbled across a couple who explained that this specific Pride means so much to them because it’s their first one as a married couple.

“This Pride is very special because this is the first one as a married couple – we’ve been married for two months. This is also our first Pride in Malta, we moved here from Poland, and the difference is that here, we feel safe,” said one person.

“For me, pride is freedom, I can finally be myself and I don’t have to hide,” explained the other.

A similar attendee explained how much she appreciates Malta Pride because in the country that she grew up in, things like this are forbidden.

“For me, Pride is freedom. I grew up in Hungary and this was not allowed. In my country, this is prohibited. So for me, Pride is about being out, being happy for other people, and letting them love whoever they want to love. Love is Love.”

A prominent trend we noticed from the answers was that Pride is something that allows people to feel safe in their identity. Everyone can be themselves unapologetically and without any reservations.

“For me, pride is a place where I can meet with like-minded people and feel safe with my identity,” said one marcher.

“Pride is kind of like a safe spot, you know? Everyone can be themselves whenever they want; a safe spot,” said another. 

While others explained that pride is all about expressing yourself in whatever way is right for you.

“Personally pride means bringing the community together and celebrating who we are. It’s about celebrating a community of people full of love, generosity and kindness. It’s about expressing exactly who you are and who you want to be with no shame and no judgement.”

“Pride is about expression. For instance, if you love the colour blue, you express that, if you love being sexy, express it – express exactly who you are, that’s what Pride is. No matter if you’re LGBTIQ+ or straight or however you identify, it’s about expressing yourself and that’s what we want to say to the whole world. Express yourself exactly how you feel. And that’s Pride,” the respondent continued.

We then bumped into the coveted Parascandalo designer Marco, who gave a prompt yet elegant response.

“Pride means living your truth and celebrating yourself however you want to celebrate it.”

“It means that I can just be my authentic self,” another marcher similarly expressed.

ADPD’s Sandra Gauci also weighed in about what Pride means to her.

“Pride is diversity and thriving in diversity. Everyone is equal, everyone is welcome.”

Ultimately, the Pride march was overflowing with positive energy that touched everyone there. And after two years of restricted events, or none at all, this one acted as the perfect reminder of why Pride is important – because it celebrates diversity.

“As you can see, Pride is inclusion, it’s fun, it’s everything good in the world. Everyone here is happy, if you look at someone they smile at you, it’s so wonderful. It’s my first Pride too so I’ve never felt this energy and it’s so nice – I’ve never felt this anywhere else. There are beautiful people and weird people but in a lovely way – the best way and it’s just so nice,” our last respondent excellently summed up. 

As you could tell, Pride has such a rich history that was honoured during the march in such a special way. However, from what we could gather, it seems like the most important thing about Pride is the fact that it’s based on love, diversity, and acceptance.

What does Pride mean to you?