Adeje today paid tribute to politician and gay rights activist Pedro Zerolo on what would have been his 60th birthday. He died in 2015. The ceremony took place in the Adeje plaza that bears his name and was attended by councillors from Adeje, Guía de Isora, Fasnia and San Miguel, activists and members of his family – his husband, his sisters and cousins.
Health councillor Amada Trujillo Bencomo thanked his family for being there, and also welcomed the newly appointed Adeje councillor for equality Desiderio Afonso Ruiz, who said that this was “a special day for the activist’s family who had made a special effort to be here we are proud to have them join us. Adeje was the first borough in the Canarias to name a plaza after Pedro Zerolo, our commitment to his ideals is part of Adeje”.
Members of Zerolo’s family concluded the act following interventions by some of the activists present. “Today we are celebrating Pedro’s birthday, and where better than in this plaza, this lovely plaza, with trees and plants, as he would have loved. We are working in the foundation to continue to work for the rights for the LGTBI and for women, together, looking ahead, not back”, said Zerolo’s sister, María Concepción González Zerolo, vice-president of the Pedro Zerolo foundation.
The associations
Present at the event were representatives of the Adeje Equality Council, and their recently –appointed spokesperson Mónica Radován Pineda, who said that “today Pedro Zerolo is a living symbol of the fight for the rights and freedoms which isn’t over yet. This plaza is also a symbol in Adeje, a voice that demonstrates the determination of this borough to defend the freedoms of all at the margins of society, of those excluded because of their sexual orientation, race or financial situation, a plaza that we in the Equality Council have adopted as a central point where we meet together to denounce domestic violence in our archipelago. We could have chosen anywhere for our minutes of silence, for our words to call out this scourge, but we chose the Plaza Pedro Zerolo because of its significance even in these tragic moments. The message is that the fight goes on, and there is still a way to go.”
The Algarabía collective, represented by Pol Valera, reflected on the significance of Zerolo in “the fight for the rights of smaller collectives with large political bodies. He was a man of the people who would knock on the doors of the powerful, meet them face to face and say, without fear, ‘you are wrong’. He never forgot where he came from, his roots, and his convictions in the fights for liberty were direct and never-failing. He was a person who fought for equality for all in every part of this country, from the biggest cities to the smallest hamlets.”
From the CanaryPride group, Mario Dobrescu wanted to remind people of the words of Pedro Zerolo and said “to honour your memory and your legacy, we must be vigilant at all times and speak out loudly against those who would silence us!”
