The meanings that Pride Parades in Six European Countries have to their Participants

• In Event: 556 - Regular Session. Collective Behavior

Abstract

In this study, the effects of different national contexts on motives for participation in Pride parades are explored trough a comparison of nine events taking place in six different European countries. The analysis is based on data from the protest survey research programme “Caught in the act of protest: Contextualizing contestation”, gathered between 2011 and 2014 in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. Open survey responses were coded based on a synthesis of typologies used in previous studies as well as inductive analysis of salient themes in the data. A subsequent quantitative analysis of the coded responses shows that the frequency of different motive types among the respondents vary significantly between different countries. While Pride participants in all countries express several different motives for participation, a protest orientation is most common in Italy, where the LGBT movement is typically met with hostility from both elites and the general public. Conversely, in the Netherlands, where both elites and public opinion are supportive, participants tend to emphasize visibility, meeting friends and entertainment as motives for participation. In Czech Republic, where the predominant LGBT movement strategy has been to effect change through lobbying rather than public protest, Pride participation is frequently seen as a way to show support for (other) LGBT persons.

Author

• Mattias Wahlström, University of Gothenburg