The Socialist Municipal Group in Orihuela has strongly condemned comments made by Vox councillor Manuel Mestre, in which he dismissed Pride Day as a “publicly funded political racket.” In a press conference, Socialist councillor Juan Miguel López responded firmly: “Mr. Mestre, the fight for equality is not a racket. What divides people is not the rainbow flag, but your intolerance dressed up as common sense.”
The PSOE accuses the local government of rolling back rights and erasing the institutional visibility of the LGTBIQ+ community. They criticize the replacement of the former Department of Equality with a so-called “Family Department,” which they describe as “an empty structure filled with conservative ideology.” The Socialists argue this is a deliberate strategy of invisibilization and regression: “This department has no concrete plans, no meaningful initiatives—just propaganda, posters, and ideological marketing. That’s the real racket at City Hall, and its only proven purpose has been to promote a narrow model of the family,” they stated.
López also took aim at the Popular Party (PP) for enabling such discourse: “You can’t govern alongside those who scorn a part of the population and then look the other way just to hold onto a majority. PP and Vox need each other and use each other: one pushes the rollback, the other whitewashes it.”
Addressing Mestre’s additional remarks linking immigration and homosexuality, the Socialist Group was blunt: “Homophobia didn’t arrive by boat. It was already here—it was written into laws, preached from pulpits, and voted for by people like you when you refused to condemn conversion therapy. Don’t use the LGTBIQ+ community as a shield for your racism. Homophobia is a universal issue, and it’s embedded in your own rhetoric.”
Regarding the local government’s handling of Pride events, the PSOE criticized what they called a total degradation: “The rainbow flag no longer flies from the City Hall balcony, there are no significant cultural events, no invited artists, and local organizations are completely excluded. Pride is not a party—it’s a demand for human rights. Silence and invisibility aren’t neutrality; they’re complicity with those who spread hate. And in the face of this regression, we won’t be silent,” declared López.
In response, the Socialist Municipal Group has submitted a motion in support of the LGTBIQ+ community to the Orihuela City Council. Their proposal calls for:
- Official institutional recognition of Pride Day
- Restoration of genuine Equality policies
- Drafting of a code of conduct for government officials
- Immediate revival and publication of the shelved LGTBI+ Plan
- Renewed, active collaboration with local LGTBIQ+ associations
“We will not be silent. We will not negotiate with those who deny our existence. And we will not look the other way like the PP, while others do the dirty work,” concluded López.
