Viet Pride Hanoi 2016 will kick off in the capital city next week, according to an August 9 statement released by the event’s organizers. Viet Pride is an annual event that focuses on celebrating the freedom of love and personal expression, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity.

This year’s event, themed ‘Path of Pride,' continues to highlight the Viet Pride Scholarship and the Work with Pride campaign for equality in the workplace. 

Activities will include film screenings, discussion sessions regarding various issues faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, and exchanges with the Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).

Musical events, speed dating, a forum theater, and an LGBT history exhibition will also be featured.

World LGBT activist Evan Wolfson, founder and former director of Freedom to Marry, an organization focused on winning the right of marriage for same-sex couples in the United States, will also be present to share about the marriage equality movement in the U.S.

The Viet Pride Hanoi Committee in 2016, comprised of many organizations and individuals working for LGBT rights in Hanoi, including 6+, Hanoi Queer, NextGEN, CSAGA, and iSEE, is also supported by numerous embassies and international NGOs.

The official celebration will take place from August 19 to 28 with the capstone activity – a Viet Pride bicycle rally – taking place on the morning of August 21. Launching in 2012, Viet Pride Hanoi has become one of the most awaited annual celebrations of the LGBT community and its allies in Vietnam.

For half a decade, Viet Pride has been a significant contributor to the important legal and societal progress made for LGBT Vietnamese.

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