The annual Metro Manila Pride March and Festival scheduled for June 27 has been cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Organizers at Metro Manila Pride announced the event’s cancellation through a social media post.
“After careful consideration, the annual Metro Manila Pride March and Festival scheduled for June 27 will not continue as originally planned. The scale of our annual gathering can bring unnecessary risks to public health and might further burden our healthcare system and other frontline services that are already struggling to respond to the effects of this pandemic,” they wrote.
“In light of these circumstances, we have been in the process of shifting our in-person activities to various online engagements. Metro Manila Pride believes that this is the right decision to make,” they added.
Metro Manila Pride asked that as everyone is called on to physical distance from each other, the community should still practice social solidarity.
They also said that they will be announcing online events and activities for a more meaningful Pride celebration online.
“Whether on the streets or in our home, Pride must live on in each of us and in our solidarity within and outside the LGBTQI+ sector,” they ended.
The event established in 1994 provides a voice to the members and allies of the LGBTQI+ community while celebrating their identities.
Their last march broke records as 70,000 participants gathered at Marikina Sports Center.
