Viva la Concha 2012

¨¡Viva la Concha!¨ sounding like a battle cry returned to the streets for Valdivia`s first-ever Gay March, June 23. A proud moment parading through the downtown area with rainbow flags waving in the rain, nervous smiles and laughter finding a solid voice, setting aside shame. Hula hoops and platform boots, but it all meant more than just putting on a show. The look on the faces of older, conservative housewives reading our signs and then lighting up into smiles, as eager as us to transform the slang use of the word for vagina from a curse to a celebration, that was the priceless gift of recognition across generations, across boundary lines. I held my cardboard sign overhead, letters bold in rainbow oil pastels, looked everyone in the eye as we marched past and we laughed collectively, temporarily bonded together under the mantra for a more inclusive future: ¡Viva la Concha! ¡Viva!

Muchas gracias Valdiversa and all the other groups and individuals who made this demonstration possible, celebrating sexual diversity.