Before becoming one of the world's largest public demonstrations, the São Paulo LGBT+ Pride Parade was born in 1997 to challenge an idea of invisibility imposed by society. "They said this community was small, that they were sad people, that they led a hidden life," recalls anthropologist Regina Facchini, a researcher at the Pagu Gender Studies Center at Unicamp. She coordinates a research project that will gather documents, photographs, interviews, and audiovisual records produced over the three decades of the LGBT+ Pride Parade, in order to propose its recognition as Brazilian cultural heritage.
Developed by Pagu in partnership with the São Paulo LGBT+ Pride Parade Association (APOLGBT-SP), the project will create a memory fund dedicated to the event's history, preserving a collection that will be available to researchers and the public at the Edgard Leuenroth Archive (AEL) at Unicamp.
The first Pride Parade in São Paulo brought together thousands of people on Paulista Avenue under the motto "We are many, we are everywhere and in every profession." "This story, built to break through invisibility, inspired other demonstrations across the country. Brazil currently has an estimated 315 LGBTQIA+ Pride Parades, many inspired by the São Paulo experience," says Facchini.
The researcher highlights that the Parade promotes national meetings of organizers and shares experiences to strengthen initiatives in different regions of the country. “The Parade is not just an event that happens once a year. It is an association, with activities throughout the year. It connects movements from all over the country and promotes the training of organizers, with a trajectory that mobilizes thousands of people and produces impacts ranging from culture and education to tourism, the economy, and health,” she explains.
Collection of diversity
The research, which will continue until April 2027, combines documentary research, interviews, field observation, memory production workshops, and audiovisual recordings. It also includes plans to produce a documentary about the 30th anniversary of the Parade and publications that reconstruct its history.
In addition to existing documents, the research will produce new records through interviews with organizers, activists, artists, and attendees of the Parade, as well as public officials, creating a collection that seeks to reflect the diversity of experiences built over these three decades.
An important part of the work will be gathering documents that are currently scattered across personal archives, social networks, and private collections. “The memory of the Parade exists, but it’s spread out. There are documents produced by the association, photographs, videos, campaign materials, participant accounts, and many records that are at risk of being lost. The 30th anniversary also represents a moment to take care of this history,” says Facchini.
The project brings together researchers from different areas of social sciences, anthropology, cultural heritage, and social memory, as well as students involved in the production and organization of the collection. Among the group members is Professor Emeritus Antonio Augusto Arantes Neto of Unicamp, an anthropologist and researcher in the area of cultural heritage. According to him, preserving this documentary collection is also a responsibility of the university. “Often these are private documents, destroyed by the families themselves when people die, or documents that people couldn't keep because they could incriminate them. The university has an obligation to safeguard this documentation,” he states.
For Arantes Neto, the initiative recognizes a manifestation that has become part of Brazilian cultural history. Preserving these sources, he argues, means ensuring that future research can understand the history of struggles for rights and social transformations in the country. Furthermore, in his assessment, the proposal aligns with the broadening of the concept of cultural heritage established by the 1988 Constitution, which also began to recognize the forms of expression and ways of life of the different groups that make up Brazilian society. "By proposing the Parade as cultural heritage, a place is being claimed in this pantheon of Brazilian culture," he emphasizes.
The anthropologist and researcher also believes that the strength of the Parade lies precisely in its ability to combine political demands and cultural expression. "It's a joyful, performative culture," he says. "It has a very strong communication potential."
Much more than a party
For Facchini, preserving the history of the Parade means recognizing its importance as a cultural and democratic manifestation. The professor recalls that, at the time of the event's first edition, rights that are now consolidated, such as the recognition of same-sex unions, were still demands of the LGBTQIA+ movement.
According to Facchini, the festive nature of the event has never meant an absence of political demands; on the contrary. Since its creation, the Parade has brought together cultural events, health prevention campaigns, educational initiatives, debates on rights, and training activities promoted by the organizing association. "It does educational work both for the community and for those outside of it," Facchini believes.
Over three decades, the demonstration has incorporated cultural, educational, and community dimensions. Beyond its economic and touristic impact on the city of São Paulo, it has become a space for health campaigns, educational initiatives, debates on citizenship, and collaboration among organizations throughout the country. "It is one of the most successful forms of public demonstration that exist in Brazil. Preserving this memory is also preserving an important part of the history of Brazilian democracy," concludes the researcher.
By gathering documents, images, accounts, and memories from those who built the Parade over three decades, the research aims to preserve not only the history of a public demonstration, but also the trajectory of a movement that helped expand rights, occupy public spaces, and transform Brazilian democracy.
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