Barcenillas (Ruente).- (EFE) Agrogay de Cantabria, an initiative to make visible the LGTBI collective of the rural world.
The town, with a hundred inhabitants, has been decorated this weekend with curious images such as the church converted into the headquarters of the Barcenillas Cultural Association, which organizes the event or “transvestites” with albarcas, the traditional shoe of the rural world cantabrian
For the president of this association, Pedro José Gutiérrez, the basis of the celebration is “that it be recognized that this group exists in the rural world and that it be respected”, because, according to what he regretted in statements to EFE, in “some towns” of Cantabria, the LGTBI collective “is not well seen”.
However, he claims that this does not happen in Barcenillas, his place of residence, an “open” town and where the neighbors “turn” with this celebration. “The neighbors are very tolerant and respectful. They go out of their way a lot, ”he highlights.
Proof of this are the trans or rainbow flags that decorate the houses of this small town throughout the weekend and the good atmosphere that is breathed in the streets of Barcenillas.
More than a festive event
Gutiérrez emphasizes that despite the fact that “Agrogay”, which has already been held in places like Galicia, is a festive event, this year they have decided to also leave space for reflection and education.
Thus, a round table on the reality of the collective in rural areas, a story contest or an exhibition of “queer collage” have been combined with the parade, where the town’s tractors have become multicolored floats.
And with the performances of the “drag queen” Mia Moi, the Gran Nogara show and the intervention as a town crier by the Asturian artist Rodrigo Cuevas.
Also, says the organizer, this event, which is celebrating its second edition in Cantabria, is attracting more and more people and, in addition to attendees from the region, has been attended by Basques, Madrid residents and even tourists from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Neighbors from nearby towns have also come close, such as Conchita, from Cabuérniga, who told EFE that the celebration seems “great”. “We all have the same right to fall in love with whoever we want,” she says.
This woman claims respect for the collective in the rural world and asks to “raise awareness” among the population of these environments so that LGTBI people are freer. “That they become aware and that they come out of the closet because many do not dare to come out: It is not a shame,” she reasons.
Pablo Ayerbe Caselles