STORY: Uruguay's LGBTQ+ community members and supporters took to the streets of Montevideo to celebrate pride with a march for diversity on Friday (September 25).

Thousands gathered, marching, dancing, singing, and wielding signs under the slogan “Live with dignity, exist with pride," calling support for LGBTQ+ rights.

Supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBTQ+) community rallied at the Legislative Palace to reiterate their commitment to the struggle for a more egalitarian society.

Uruguay, where homosexuality has been legal since 1934, has emerged as a global leader in LGBTQ+ rights within the last decade.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY (SEPTEMBER 25, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

1. LGBTQ+ PRIDE PARADE IN PROGRESS

2. VARIOUS OF PRIDE MARCH IN PROGRESS

3. PARTICIPANTS DANCING IN COLOURFUL COSTUMES

4. DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING RAINBOW FLAG

5. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ACTIVIST, CLARITA ARBENOIZ, SAYING:

"It is also important to point out that there is a comprehensive law for trans people and there are articles of the law that are not being complied with (referring to the mandatory quota in Uruguay, under which government agencies must allocate at least 1% of their job openings and contracts to transgender people). So it would also be good to, you know, point that out. I think it is good because there is a law, the government approved it, but it doesn't get applied."

6. PRIDE MARCH IN PROGRESS, PEOPLE SINGING AND DANCING

7. BANNER READING (Spanish): "Protect trans children"

8. DEMONSTRATOR HOLDING HEART SHAPED BANNER READING (Spanish): "Life is too short to pretend you are straight"

9. DEMONSTRATOR WITH GREEN WIG MARCHING

10. PRIDE MARCH IN PROGRESS

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LAWYER, FRANCISCO DIAZ, SAYING:

"Socially, many times at night, when going out, the little groups of straight guys sometimes always treat us differently, it is not the same inclusion, you can tell. And in work environments you can also tell. I don't suffer it specifically, lesbian women and trans women suffer it more."

12. DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING WITH BANNERS

13. PARTICIPANT IN SILVER COSTUME HOLDING FLAG, DANCING AT MARCH

14. DEMONSTRATOR WEARING COLOURFUL WINGS MARCHING

15. PRIDE MARCH IN PROGRESS, PEOPLE DANCING

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF COOPIVA (HOUSING COOPERATIVE FOR TRANS PEOPLE), SHIA SARUTTI, SAYING:

"The truth is that I have never felt discriminated against one hundred percent. I am sixty years old, I come from the dictatorship, that is also why the cooperative was set up, which historically is the first time that we have accessed housing at a national level. But I did not fully experience discrimination, I did experience the dictatorship, which was a very difficult time in which there are friends who shed their blood so that today we are doing what we are doing."

17. PRIDE MARCH IN PROGRESS, PEOPLE DANCING

18. LEGISLATIVE PALACE LIT UP IN RAINBOW COLOURS, CROWDS CELEBRATING