As part of Pride 2026, this roundtable discussion will bring together queer activists from Asian diasporas to reflect on the diversity of experiences, contexts, and narratives within the queer community from an intersectional perspective. The conversation will focus particularly on the Chinese and Filipino diasporas and will address issues such as discrimination, postcolonialism, artistic expression, and sex education.
Pride Barcelona is a celebration of diversity and a call for equality and the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community. Barcelona has officially submitted its bid to host WorldPride 2030, reclaiming the city as a space of freedom, respect, and dignity.
The event will take place on Wednesday, July 8, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. CEST at Pati Manning (Carrer Montalegre, 7, Barcelona). Free admission with prior registration. It is organized by Casa Asia and Pride Barcelona, with the collaboration of Espai Kapwa, Una Verba, and the Barcelona Provincial Council. The event will include a “row 0” (virtual seating area) to expand the discussion.
Welcome remarks:
José Pintor, General Director of Casa Asia
Moderator:
Maria Giralt, Vice President and Director of the Social Area, Pride Barcelona
Participants:
Bibi, co-founder of the Una Verba collective
AlegriayRebeldía ᜀᜌ᜔ᜍᜋ᜔ (elle/bakla), artist with the Espai Kapwa collective
Bibi is a member of the Una Verba collective. Una Verba is a Chinese queer feminist collective based in Barcelona that reflects on the intersection of racism and gender discrimination, especially in the context of Chinese communities in the diaspora; sex education within the Chinese community, a topic that remains largely invisible and faces many cultural barriers; and the connection between diasporic communities through art and archives, as forms of memory, expression, and collective construction.
AlegriayRebeldía is a self-taught, trans, gender-fugitive artist, a migrant born in Cavite and raised in Madrid’s underground cultural scene, currently residing in Barcelona. She is part of the Espai Kapwa collective. This is an action-research and outreach project focused on the pre-colonial values of the islands known as the Philippines. Its objective is to facilitate community engagement among artists, researchers, and other organizations of the Filipino diaspora, both locally and internationally.
Maria Giralt i Castells (Barcelona, 1958) is a historical feminist and lesbian activist, considered one of the pioneers of the LGBTQIA+ movement in Catalonia. She participated in the first LGBTQIA+ rights demonstration held in Barcelona in 1977 and founded the first Lesbian Collective in Spain. She is currently the director of Gayles.TV and vice president of Pride Barcelona, where she leads the Social Area and manages relations with the social organizations that make up Pride Barcelona.
More information: https://www.pridebarcelona.org/
