Anti-fascist and anti-racist pride takes the streets in Argentina

A performance at the LGBTQIA+ Antifascist and Antiracist Federal Pride March on February 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, against cuts to education and health spending and the retrenchment of gender rights. Photo © Susi Maresca.

Reportage • Ceci García and Susi Maresca • February 6, 2025 • Leer en castellano

A massive march took the streets Saturday in the city of Buenos Aires for the Federal Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist LGBTQIA+ Pride March. The protest is part of a rising tide that began in Buenos Aires and echoed throughout Argentina and beyond. 

The action downtown Buenos Aires got going around 4 o’clock. It was over 30 degrees outside, but the atmosphere was energetic, protest organizers said millions attended throughout the country. Entire families pulled out their hand-painted signs and hugged each other on street corners. People came together without fear: artists wheatpasting posters, others arriving covered in glitter, or wearing green handkerchiefs, spreading a sense of collective performativity through the heart of the city. 

There have been two key protests that have mobilized across social sectors since Javier Milei took office a year and two months ago.* The first was the March in Defense of Public University, which took place in October, and the second was on Saturday.

Organizing against Milei’s hate

The massive march last weekend was diverse and intersectional. It was led by members of a collective of travesti-trans and non-binary people, mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared, Black-anti-racist activists, racialized and Indigenous peoples, migrants, differently abled folks, elders and children. Behind them came the Antifascist Assembly, followed by trade union organizations, with members of political parties bringing up the rear.

The spark of resistance turned into fire after a speech given by Javier Milei at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 23. Milei linked homosexuality with child abuse, argued that feminism distorts equality, and called “wokeism” an epidemic that must be excised like a cancer. His comments had the effect of fanning the fire.

Members of the Black community in Argentina take to the streets on February 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to fight back against President Javier Milei's statements in Davos. Photo © Susi Maresca.

What may have seemed like a speech that had little to do with economics was anything but. Financial calm requires domestic obedience. As feminist movements have been insisting, gender issues are part of a dispute for economic and financial power. 

Milei's speech in the context of the Forum—which is held annually and brings together heads of state, government leaders and CEOs of major corporations—came after Donald Trump spoke, and is part of a global agenda. By attacking historical struggles, Milei exemplified the brutality of neofascism, laying bare the way it impacts bodies and territories with the aim of further concentrating wealth through extractivism.

The fire of resistance quickly fuelled organization. The day after Milei's speech, several collectives convened an LGBTQIA+ Antifascist Assembly in Parque Lezama, in Buenos Aires. The assembly exceeded the expectations of organizers, as a large number of people heeded the call and showed up. 

Those who attended the assembly convened the Federal LGBTQIA+ Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride March, which would start at the National Congress and make its way to the Plaza de Mayo. “You don't have to be LGBTQIA+ to march. It is crucial that we all unite. Let's overflow the streets and become a grassroots celebration,” read the Assembly’s call out. 

The time to stand together against cruelty and in defense of democracy is now. A line has been drawn by so-called “minorities,” and it proposes to protect and dignify life and happiness. 

Although the Federal Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist LGBTQIA+ Pride March had particular relevance in Buenos Aires, marches were held in every province of the country. The call went global and there were marches in Brazil, Spain, Germany, Mexico and elsewhere. 

In the City of Buenos Aires, unlike during other marches, there was no major police operation. This was due to a habeas corpus filed hours earlier by Judge Alejo Ramos Padilla which, among other things, prevented federal and provincial police from detaining people in the street during the protest. 

Anti-fascism in the streets

The march began to advance in a burst of color, filling the streets of the capital as people continued to join. A big pink and black banner with the slogan “Historic Reparation Law Now!” was held aloft by the Travesti-Trans collective as its members crossed a key boulevard.

“I’m inspired to show them that we’re more united than ever, and that we won’t allow them to violate our rights,” said Carola Figueredo, who works with the Argentine Trans Memory Archive as she walked behind the banner.

Representatives of the LGBTQIA+ community lead the Federal for LGBTQIA+ Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist Pride March on February 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo © Susi Maresca.

Another particularity of this march was that there was no stage or speakers, shifting the dynamics of how we take public space. A collective unification in movement against what we can now name: fascism.

“I am here to support rights, that everyone can be with whoever they want, with whoever makes them happy, and to say no to hate speech and violence,” said Nina, a girl no more than 10 years old with a rainbow painted on her face. She wore a homemade T-shirt that read “love doesn't hurt, hate does.”

Mandarina is a member of Buenos Aires’ community of ballroom dancers. She was in a wheelchair at the front of the march together with Marlene Wayar, a psychologist, and well known Argentine travesti activist. “No matter how hard it is to make it out, no matter how scary it is, it doesn't matter, I’m here,” said Mandarina. She emphasized that the queer community is facing increasing hostility, but that they are proudly resisting and even gaining strength.

There are plenty of reasons to march. Nancy Yulan, a 65 year old retiree from the organization Retirees in Struggle, stood in front of the fence of the Casa Rosada and shouted 'cowards' at the cops guarding the entrance.

“This cuts across everything, it's not just a question of the LGBTQIA+ community, it's a question of the entire working class,” said Yulan in an interview. She mentioned the economic precariousness in which retirees find themselves, as well as their struggles in defense of public healthcare. “They are attacking healthcare, and hospitals, which are our patrimony as workers. Where are we going to go if they close the public hospitals?”

The feeling from the massive march continues to resonate through our bodies, as do questions about the direction the movement will take. Are we witnessing the emergence of a new social actor? For that to happen, we need to open space for new horizons.

*A previous version of this text said Milei took power one year and one month ago, but he was inaugurated on December 10, 2023. We have updated the text to better reflect the timeline.