Academic Pride back in the parade after two years

For Elga Bandeira, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet and Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the KI Postdoc Association, it was the first time in Stockholm's Pride parade.

“I have not been to the previous parades, as I moved to Stockholm during pandemic times, but it seemed like everyone was ecstatic to be able to celebrate again after so much time,” she says.

The Pride week and the parade are important to draw attention to and support to celebrate gender and sexual diversity, she believes.

“So we don't forget that not all work is done to help those who need respect and inclusion, and that we will hold on to all good things that were achieved this far,” says Elga Bandeira.

Karolinska Institutet's participation in Pride takes place in collaboration with the Medical Association (MF) and the Odontological Association (OF). Several universities – Karolinska Institutet, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm University and the Stockholm School of Economics – joined the parade under the same flag, Academic Pride.

The aim is to highlight the importance of LGBTQIA+ issues in higher education institutions, both in terms of research and teaching and in terms of inclusive work and study environments.

Another participant in the parade was Vice President Anders Gustafsson. He notes the joy of the fact that the parade is back again after a break during the pandemic.

“It feels like an important manifestation of everyone's right to be themselves,” he says.

Earlier in the week, on August 2, a seminar was arranged with the title “How can universities recognize color and become more inclusive?”, where researchers Andrea Eriksson and Carin Hellström at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology presented their new report LGBTQ people’s organizational and social work environment.