Por Redaccion 
The Brotherhood of the Students filed a hate crime complaint on Monday with the Higher Court of Justice of Asturias (TSJA) against the organizers of the March 8th demonstration in Gijón for «disrespectfully using» the image of the Virgin of Covadonga.
The association denounced that during the march, a representation of the Virgin was displayed «with sacrilegious legends» and «purple garments» in a staging they consider «mocking.» «The expression ‘Santina QUEER Vadonga’ leaves no doubt about the intention to insult a religious symbol,» they pointed out.
They argued that the representation entails «hatred, hostility, contempt, discrimination, or violence» against the Catholic community, especially in Asturias, using processional elements such as «hoods» and a «float» similar to those used in Holy Week.
PENALTIES OF ONE TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON
The complaint is based on article 510 of the Penal Code, which punishes with one to four years in prison actions that «promote, advocate, or indirectly incite hatred» against a group for religious reasons.
They cite a report from the Ministry of the Interior from 2024 that defines hate crimes as «illegal actions driven by prejudice and intolerance» that degrade «human dignity.»
They argue that freedom of expression «cannot serve as a blank check» to justify actions that offend the beliefs of a religious group, citing Circular 7/2019 from the Attorney General’s Office.
They also point out that the demonstration was called to defend working women, so they consider the elements used to be completely unrelated to that goal.
«These acts of social polarization do not seek to defend a specific political stance or social claim, for the simple reason that such defense could have been done very well from positions of respect and not hatred towards the religious community, as already mentioned, without using the Virgin of Covadonga, a pallium procession, and the rest of the elements and symbols used that entail contempt, hostility, discrimination, disparagement, discredit, or violence against a specific group of the population like the Catholic one,» the complaint states.
«IT CANNOT BE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION»
They have requested that a criminal case be opened against the organizers, promoters, or conveners, and that the Government Delegation be informed of their identity, as well as the Gijón Police Station to provide recordings and/or photographs of said demonstration and specifically of the «float» in which the figure of the Virgin of Covadonga was used «so inappropriately.»
The complaint was agreed upon in an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Officers held on March 9th, following the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law. «The actions committed cannot be subsumed under a mere exercise of freedom of expression,» they state.