Pride 2025: A still relevant fight

On Saturday, the largest Pride Parade to date was held in Nuuk. A celebration that this year marked the 15th anniversary of the very first parade, and which has only grown in both size and importance since then.

In front of Killut, the festivities were already in full swing long before the parade had even left the square. A variety of artists performed with everything from drum dancing and singing to heavy metal and rubber eight-packs.

At the same time, both young and old, queer and straight, gathered at the tables and benches to draw, cut and stick signs in all sorts of colors, motifs and with creative slogans.

Two friends stood smiling next to each other with a yellow and a blue sign in front of them. They read: 

“Don’t be a dick – suck one” and – depending on preference – : “Don’t be a pussy – eat one”.

What had begun as a sporadic and engaged audience had gradually transformed into a united and festive crowd as the clock approached 4 p.m. – the time for the parade to depart.

Qillaq Olsen, the frontman for Sipineq+, led the crowd with a megaphone and a slogan that resonated between the city’s buildings:

“Let love win, let Love win, let Love win – let love win!”

“Let love win, let Love win, let Love win – let love win!”

With several hundred participants, the parade moved like a string of pearls, filling the streetscape on an otherwise gray day with celebration, colorful signs and clothing – and of course rainbow flags.

A still relevant fight

Among the colorful participants was Naaja H. Nathanielsen, who is the Minister of Commerce, Minerals, Energy, Justice and Gender Equality. She participated in the parade both to celebrate the steps that have already been taken and to support the steps that are still missing:

– There is greater tolerance in society today, but unfortunately I also see signs of the opposite. That there is fear of what you don’t know. Around the world, rights are being rolled back in many places, so the fight today is just as relevant as it was 15 years ago, she says.

Although, according to Naaja H. Nathanielsen, there is still a lot of work to be done in relation to discrimination and resistance against LGBTQ+ people, the work is already well underway.

– Last year we passed the first anti-discrimination law that includes LGBTQ+ people. So it’s actually historic that we can walk here today with new rights that didn’t exist last year, she says.

From 100 to several hundred

The last stop of the parade was in front of the steps at Inatsisartut, where the rainbow flag was raised for the very first time. Here it fluttered in the wind side by side with Erfalasorput – just as a blue sky slowly began to break through behind the gray cloud layer.

Wearing a pink anorak, an emotional Qillaq Olsen, who is the leader of Sipineq+, stood back after the parade. He was both surprised and incredibly happy about the large turnout.

– I had told the police that we would probably be around 100, but there were far more than I had imagined. It shows how great the support actually is, he says.

Sipineq+ is an LGBTQIA+ organization that works to protect and educate about human rights, and is also behind the planning of the Pride Parade in Nuuk.

And the support was unmistakable – from small rainbow flags in children’s hands to support from local actors, all of whom contributed to making the 2025 Pride Parade a reality.

– Acceptance is growing among more and more people. But there is still work to be done, especially in the area of legislation. Our work must become better and broader. But it takes time, says Qillaq Olsen.

Although the parade was over, the celebration was far from over.

– Nuuk Pride is not over yet. There is a party tonight and in the coming days Sipineq+ will be organizing more events. Keep an eye on it, he says.

Pride Parade 2025 is over. Back at the nearly empty square, the only sign of the party is the sound of a Soundboks speaker playing Cindy Lauper’s classic Girls Just Want to Have Fun in the distance: 

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

“I come home in the mornin’ lightMy mother says, ‘When you gonna live your life right?'”…“And girls, they wanna have funOh, girls just wanna have fun”

“I come home in the mornin’ lightMy mother says, ‘When you gonna live your life right?'”“And girls, they wanna have funOh, girls just wanna have fun”