No 988 Tuesday 12th - Sunday 17th September 2023
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SEE PAGES 4 & 5
ast week’s plenary session in Orihuela, enjoyed a great deal of fierce debate, including that around LGTBI rights, following a motion by the PSOE requesting that the new PP and Vox government coalition return the acronym to the Department of Equality and approve the first LGTBI Plan, which was drafted by the previous council, and thereby create an office to combat LGTBI phobia. The motion was rejected, however, with votes against by both the PP and Vox.
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The Councilor for Equality (PP), María Agustina Rodríguez, argued that her objective is to review and improve the present structure, as she invited the opposition to stop "preventive attacks" and "spreading fear in the community". She accused the PSOE of "explicit and forceful support for LGTBI rights."
BOTH PP AND VOX REJECT THE FIRST LGTBI PLAN IN ORIHUELA
The Leader of Vox, Manuel Mestre, was even more critical, accusing the left of having "interests based on confrontation and division", to which he added that "we all have homosexual friends". Leticia Pertegal, from Cambiemos, said that "there is much more to do" and that the argument is "an absolute nonsense", which is doing little more than creating "pacts of hate." Councillor Mestre countered with the argument that "It is dishonest to give aid and enrich oneself at the expense of public money," as he also advocated "not financing a group that does not represent the majority of the population." Regarding the controversy that arose on Pride Day, when the rainbow flag was not displayed on the balcony of the Town Hall, Mestre has said that "the Spanish flag and the Glorious Enseña del Oriol are the emblems that represent everyone, and not the flag of Pride".
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