On Saturday, June 28, Socios En Salud (SES) participated for the fourth consecutive year in the Pride March. Together with thousands of people in the heart of Lima, it commemorated LGBTIQ+ Pride Day under the slogan “A dignified, diverse and proud health”.
This year, the Pride March brought together activists, collectives, institutions and citizens who demanded equality, respect and public policies that recognize the rights of sexual and gender diversity.
For SES, this participation is not just a symbolic date. It is part of a sustained strategy of visibility, advocacy and implementation of specific services for the LGBTIQ+ community.
“We work for all people, without exclusion. This is an important event where we show our outreach to all communities. Part of our work is to include all groups without distinction,” comments Leonid Lecca, general manager of SES.
Health as a right, not a privilege
In a country where more than 60% of LGBTI+ people have suffered some kind of discrimination or violence, guaranteeing medical care free of prejudice becomes an imperative.
SES takes on this challenge firmly, strengthening its interventions with a gender and diversity approach. Through safe health spaces, it brings trans people and other dissident identities closer to the health system.
“A safe space is where a person feels listened to, accepted and free to be who they are. At POLSES, we work with empathy, experience and commitment to the LGBTIQ+ community,” says Erika Ygnacio, clinical services coordinator at PoliclĂnico Socios En Salud (POLSES).
During Pride Month, visibility actions were intensified with information campaigns and testimonies of people who found in these services a space for containment and care.
Participate, listen, transform
Being present at the Pride March is also a way of listening. This 2025, the Partners In Health team talked with activists, gathered community concerns and identified barriers still persistent in daily care. It reaffirmed the importance of moving towards public policies that ensure sustainable resources and ongoing training for health personnel.
“Participating in the march is to make it visible that health personnel also accompany this struggle. We want the community to know that it is not alone, that it deserves dignified care without prejudice. To be present is to reaffirm that health and the freedom to live our diversity are the rights of all,” says Ygnacio.
Participation is not limited to a symbolic activity: it has a concrete impact. By making its work visible in spaces such as the march, Socios En Salud builds trust, a key factor in ensuring that more people have access to diagnosis, treatment and support. In addition, it reinforces its role as a strategic ally in the design of solutions together with the communities themselves.
The Pride 2025 March was a powerful expression of hope, resistance and demand. For SES, it also meant a reaffirmation of principles: that health cannot be exclusionary, that dignity is part of treatment, and that without health with a rights-based approach there is no true inclusion.
As long as the gaps persist, marching, attending, listening and transforming will continue to be part of the same commitment.
