Copenhagen has been granted WorldPride 2021 by the organization InterPride. The organizers will be using WorldPride as a platform to promote LGBTQ equality around the world, and the Danish government ensures that they will support the efforts to deliver a “spectacular event”.
It was down to Copenhagen and Fort Lauderdale when more than 200 delegates at this year’s InterPride AGM decided on the host city of WorldPride 2021. Copenhagen won the final vote by almost two-thirds of the vote, and so the global LGBTQ community can look forward to gathering in what Lonely Planet recently named the world’s most LGBTQ friendly place.
– We’re ecstatic at the prospect of hosting WorldPride, said Lars Christian Østergreen, managing director at Happy Copenhagen. – WorldPride 2021 will put human rights, diversity and inclusivity front, and center to promote equality around the world.
A global mega-event
Besides hosting WorldPride, Copenhagen is also bidding to host EuroGames in 2021. The vision is to combine the two events into one mega-event named Copenhagen 2021, which will feature a massive pride parade, a large human rights conference and hundreds of inclusive sporting events.
– Uniting WorldPride and EuroGames in the same city will be historic, said Lars Christian Østergreen. – By combing the playfulness of pride, the competitiveness of sports and the seriousness of human rights, we want Copenhagen 2021 to be a transformative journey for all participants.
Government support
The Copenhagen bid was backed by many cities across Greater Copenhagen, including the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen and the Mayor of Malmö. Even the Danish government was backing the efforts to bring WorldPride to the Danish capital, having signed a letter of support and produced a video message from the Danish Prime Minister addressing the delegates.
– I am sure that the organizers will deliver a spectacular event, and we will do our best to support them in doing so, said Karen Ellemann, the Danish Minister of Equality. – Denmark has been at the forefront of LGBTI equality for decades, and by hosting this event we will once again throw our full weight behind the important notion that LGBTI rights are human rights.
Five anniversaries to celebrate
Formally, Copenhagen Pride was the organization bidding for WorldPride 2021. Lars Henriksen, chair of the organization, expressed his gratitude following the vote:
– We have worked diligently to bring WorldPride to Copenhagen. In 2021, Denmark is celebrating five LGBTQ related anniversaries, including the 25th anniversary of Copenhagen Pride. We can’t wait to celebrate such an important milestone with the rest of the world.
The European Gay & Lesbian Sport Federation will decide on the host city of EuroGames 2021 in March 2018. This year, WorldPride was celebrated in Madrid, and the next WorldPride will be hosted in NYC to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
Copenhagen 2021 is the mega-event that combines EuroGames and WorldPride for the first time ever. We invite the whole world to a spectacular celebration of sportsmanship, LGBTQ rights, and love – wrapped up in a rainbow-colored pride party where #YouAreIncluded.