The Vice President of the Principality participates in the award ceremony for the Violet Looks awards from the Asturian Movement for Peace
Not a slogan or an option. The achievement of real and effective equality is, for the Government of Asturias, «an ethical, political, and democratic obligation.» With these words, the Vice President, Gimena Llamedo, has reaffirmed the commitment of the Principality to narrow down and eliminate all gender gaps present in society. «There is no other option: the future of Asturias can only be built with women and feminism,» she defended during the award ceremony for the Violet Looks awards, organized by the Asturian Movement for Peace (Maspaz).
According to Llamedo, the ten honored trajectories are «a clear example that feminism is one of our engines of social progress.» The brave, committed, and transformative women selected by Maspaz in the third edition of their violet awards represent «the best of Asturias, showing that from Asturias, we can also change the course of the world,» emphasized the Vice President.
Llamedo has presented one of the awards, the one in the category of Politics and Cultural Action, which has been awarded to the Government delegate, Adriana Lastra, «a woman who never gives up, who always raises her voice against injustices, who never hides the truth, and is always willing to open doors for others,» she valued.
The advancement of equality is undeniable, as is the patriarchal reaction to hinder it. «There are political forces that openly deny feminism and others that tiptoe around a struggle that does not understand lukewarmness. You are either feminist or you are a misogynist. We are tired of twisting rhetoric to avoid taking sides for the venerable and irrevocable right to equality,» Llamedo concluded.
This has been her complete intervention:
Award ceremony for the Violet Looks awards from the Asturian Movement for Peace (Maspaz)
It is an honor to share with you, on behalf of our president, this gala that had to be postponed due to the blackout on April 28; an event in which we broaden our perspective, paint it violet with those purple glasses that we should never take off, to recognize a small sample of the great example that you are, that we are, the Asturian women.
In 2023, I had the privilege of receiving this award, and I confess that there are not many moments in public life that have moved me so much for what it represents: the collective embrace of many violet women who build together, who resist together. Coming back today, from another institutional responsibility, is closing a circle. Because the violet glasses are not hung up when arriving at an office: they are worn every day, in every decision, in every step.
Maspaz pays tribute today to the talent, work, intelligence, and courage of ten trajectories, a sample of the best of Asturias. We are surrounded by brave, committed, and transformative women, women who walk together.
You know better than anyone that the future is built by extending a helping hand, is built by standing up when a colleague needs it, is sustained by the resistance of a long genealogy of women who fought tooth and nail for the conquest of equality.
It is the same conviction with which the government works for real and effective equality to be a reality, a profoundly feminist government led by Adrián Barbón. For us, equality is not a slogan, not an option, but an ethical, political, and democratic obligation that we will never abandon. Never.
There is no other option: the future of Asturias can only be built with women and with feminism.
You, the award winners, are a clear example that feminism is one of our engines of social progress.
– Rosa Sainz and Carmen González from the University of Oviedo break the glass ceilings of laboratories and the academic world.
– Just like Josefa Vega and the women of the El Orrio cooperative work day by day to care for our villages and their people.
– The ingenuity and perseverance of the founders of the Madreñes Rugby Club is an invaluable example. With each training session and each game, they break the sexist and age labels in sports.
– The creativity and commitment of Ángeles Caso and Sole Giménez feed our souls.
– As does Nerys García, an tireless fighter for the human rights of the most invisible among the never seen.
Allow me to leave for the end two women, two mentors.
Paz Fernández Felgueroso is a teacher of teachers. How many glass ceilings have you broken, Paz, how much feminist struggle for social justice you treasure in your wide backpack of wisdom. Thank you very much for all your work and for your unattainable example.
The other woman who, like Paz, never gives up, who always raises her voice against injustices, who never shies away from the truth, and is always willing to open doors for others, is Adriana Lastra. Friend, companion, thank you for your example.
Adriana and I share many trenches, but there is one that we carry tattooed in our souls: feminism. And also an unforgettable experience, the Train of Freedom. I see here many women who set in motion that train that left Asturias and managed to mobilize the whole country and stop the reform of the abortion law, that setback in women’s rights that they intended to perpetrate. We demonstrated it back then, and all the award winners demonstrate it now: from Asturias, we can also change the course of the world.
Faced with the advancement of equality, the patriarchy rages like a wounded beast. There are political forces that openly deny feminism and others that tiptoe around a struggle that does not understand lukewarmness. You are either feminist or you are a misogynist. It needs to be said clearly, with no half measures. Because we are tired of twisting rhetoric to avoid taking sides for the venerable and irrevocable right to equality.
You all know where to find me, by your side, learning from you every day. I know that I will never lack the helping hand of a colleague or the example of women like our award winners. Congratulations to all. By our side will also walk Anita Sirgo, who gives her name to one of the Violet Looks awards. We will always see her standing up, illuminating our path.
FUENTE
