Natalino Guterres says the opportunity to march down Oxford Street with pure queer pride echoes the feelings he felt at the age of 12, when East Timor achieved independence after a brutal occupation. It’s an analogy.
“That’s really emotional to me,” he said. “It’s one of those moments that makes me really happy and looking forward to gaining momentum.”
Prime Minister Guterres traveled from East Timor with 10 others to march in Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade as part of the first East Timor Float, one of 200 floats.
They learned they would be joining after a successful GoFundMe set up by Nuno Carascaran, who came to Australia as a refugee from East Timor in 1975, raised more than $6,500 to cover expenses. It was a week ago.
“It moved incredibly fast. There were so many people who came on board with immense support,” said Karaskaran, who has a career in drag and entertainment in Australia under the name Ashley Swift. he said.
Guterres has been at the forefront of building acceptance in East Timor’s gay community since he started the country’s annual Pride march in 2017.
The number of marchers grew from 500 the first year to more than 5,000.
“This country has a conservative culture, 97% of the population is Catholic, and many of us are Catholic,” Guterres said. “There’s still a lot of prejudice and discrimination, and people still don’t feel very comfortable coming out.”
But support is growing among sections of the church. At the beginning of each Pride march, participants begin with a Catholic prayer.
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It was this synchronicity between the church and the queer community that struck Karaskaran when he visited Timor-Leste last year to participate in a Pride march.
The visit came on the heels of his first visit to East Timor since fleeing with his family during the 1975 Indonesian invasion.
During the Indonesian occupation, up to 200,000 people are thought to have died in fighting, massacres and forced starvation before the landmark 1999 referendum in which 78.5% of the population voted for independence.
“The fact that Timor-Leste was able to hold its own Mardi Gras through grassroots coordination despite all the trauma it has endured is quite remarkable,” Karaskaran said. “The common thread is that the fight for independence is a fight for equality.”
During President Carascaran’s visit, he met with President Jose Ramos-Horta. – And I helped prepare for the following year’s Timor-Leste Pride Parade, which ended at the presidential palace.
Despite this progress, LGBTQ+ people are still frequently not accepted and face violence and discrimination, Guterres said, adding that the East Timorese float being held as part of Sydney’s Mardi Gras is making the situation worse. He said he hopes that will change.
“It’s about visibility, not just for our queer community, but for this country as a whole.”
