Buenos Aires Pride march blends celebration and protest before papal visit

(8 Nov 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ++COMMERCIAL MUSIC, MUSIC VIDEO AND/OR PERFORMANCES, MUST BE CLEARED ACCORDING TO YOUR OWN LOCAL MUSIC PERFORMANCE AND COPYRIGHT AGREEMENTS WITH YOUR APPLICABLE COLLECTING SOCIETY++ ASSOCIATED PRESS Buenos Aires, Argentina - 7 November 2026 1. Paraders dancing on vehicles in the 2026 Buenos Aires Pride Caravan 2. Carlos Barros dancing dressed as a priest 3. Barros pretending to bless a demonstrator 4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Carlos Barros, university lecturer: “Here in Argentina, Milei, honestly, and his government have wreaked havoc on gender issues and policies for diverse communities, and we have seen it in recent weeks with the attacks on the LGBT community, especially the travesti and trans community. There have been murders, gang attacks on trans peers.” 5. Demonstrators dancing on a truck in the 2026 Buenos Aires Pride Caravan 6. People singing 7. Demonstrators at the Buenos Aires Pride march 8. Uriel Balich dancing dressed as the pope among nuns 9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Uriel Balich, private security employee: “They have beaten our trans and travesti peers who work in Palermo. And it is important to be at this march to protest, so that more and more of us support this diversity, and so they do not always keep us hidden. So that we can be free to do everything we want to be. In our bed, we are in charge, not the church or the government or anything. And for society to learn that there are not only men and women, that there is diversity.” 10. Pan right from socks with a heart in the colors of the LGBTQ community 11. Various of demonstrators dancing to traditional Argentine folk music 12. Demonstrator dressed as a nun 14. Image of Pope Leo seen amid the LGBTQ demonstration in Buenos Aires UPSOUND (Spanish): "Today, the whole world is watching the Buenos Aires Pride march." STORYLINE: Members of the LGBTQ+ community gathered in Buenos Aires on Saturday for the city’s annual Pride march, a day before Pope Leo XIV’s scheduled arrival in Argentina. The 35th edition was held under the slogan, “When hate advances, pride in the streets is resistance,” combining a celebration of sexual and gender diversity with demands for LGBTQ+ rights. Participants sang and danced on vehicles in the Pride caravan, while others danced to traditional Argentine folk music. Some wore religious costumes, including university lecturer Carlos Barros, who danced dressed as a priest and pretended to bless another demonstrator. “Here in Argentina, Milei, honestly, and his government have wreaked havoc on gender issues and policies for diverse communities, and we have seen it in recent weeks with the attacks on the LGBT community, especially the travesti and trans community. There have been murders, gang attacks on trans peers,” Barros said. Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010. Pope Francis approved blessings for same-sex couples in December 2023, provided they did not resemble wedding ceremonies, while maintaining the church’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman. Speaking to reporters aboard a flight from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to Rome on April 23, 2026, Leo said everyone was welcome in the church. Asked about blessings for same-sex couples in Germany, he reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to formalized blessings beyond those authorized by Francis. Leo’s visit will be the first by a pope to Argentina since John Paul II traveled there in 1987. His itinerary includes Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Lujan. AP video by Pablo Barrera Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/2750ebd39c4141d2ae64009973f441f3