While many of the world’s Pride festivals for 2023 are now in the rear-view mirror, one major one reaches its climax this weekend: Prague Pride, with a parade on Saturday. To help celebrate the occasion, BelAmi has released a moving video and webpage to commemorate lives lost to tragic anti-gay violence.
BelAmi noted that it wanted to celebrate the occasion as more than a parade or merchandise, using the platform as a time to reflect on how far we’ve come as a community—while still recognizing how far we have left to go. The studio noted that idea stemmed from anti-gay violence hitting close to home when, last year, a gunman killed two young men at a popular gay bar just steps away from one of BelAmi’s offices in Bratislava.
The studio enlisted 13 of its performers to create a one-minute video where they all wear t-shirts featuring the name of an LGBTQ person from around the world who lost their lives due to violence, with more information on those lost souls shared on the moving webpage. Those honored include Matthew Shepard, Daniel Aston, Kenneth Zeller and (collectively) the 49 victims of the 2016 Pulse mass shooting in Florida.
“Looking at the increasing attacks on LGBTQI individuals around the world makes it hard not to want to comment on what’s going on and remind people that while we have come a long way, we are all still in a fight for our freedom and the right to be who we are, and love who we want, on a daily basis,” shared the studio.
Check out the video and the 13 heart-wrenching stories on the studio’s Pride Reflection page, and then head over to BelAmi to see these 13 gorgeous models with decidedly less clothes on.
This is powerful. The internet can be used for social justice. I would love to see the end of homophobia, racism, religious zealotry, and any other “ism” that robs people of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Again, thank you BelAmi for putting this together.
Wow. That was pretty powerful stuff. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Well done.
I agree. Well done.