Pride Around The World
It’s that time again, when gay pride parades snake their way through cities all over the world, to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York. Over the weekend there were parades in a number of European cities, as well as Israel, Brazil and even here in Australia too.
Check out our Pride Around The World snapshot gallery here.
In Rome, Italy, an estimated 200,000 people marched on Saturday, according to AFP. Boston.com reports that demonstrators waved rainbow flags, carried signs reading “freedom for all”, criticised their conservative government, demanded rights for same-sex couples and the recognition of gay marriage. Marchers dressed as clergy also carried signs reading “No Vatican”.
An estimated 20,000 people took part in Tel Aviv’s annual pride parade last Friday. The AFP report “dancing, swaying and sashaying through the streets of the sizzling Israeli beachside city”. There were drag queens, straight parents of gay children and activists, along with five gay “weddings”, which were symbolic, given that same-sex marriage is not officially recognised in Israel. There was tight security and a small group of right wing protesters holding up signs saying “God hates debauchery.” Israel’s interior minister and chief rabbis had called on the Prime Minister to call off the parade to keep the “abomination” away from the eyes of children.
The annual gay pride parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil was held on Sunday. It’s the largest gay pride parade in the world, and numbers of attendees are estimated to be around the 3.5 million mark. According to Associated Press, four men were hospitalised after an unidentified person threw a homemade explosive into the crowd. A Parade spokesperson said that one of the hospitalised men is in a critical condition with head trauma, a second is in serious condition with multiple injuries and the two others have unspecified but non-life-threatening injuries.
There were smaller marches in Poland and Croatia, which were met with counter demonstrations from conservatives. In Warsaw, Poland, about 1,500 people marched along the main city street under police escort. Authorities told press that a dozen anti-gay youth shouted homophobic remarks, but there were no confrontations.
The pride march was much smaller in Zagreb, Croatia – about 500 gay activists marched in the city’s eighth parade, but there was a 50 strong counter demonstration who booed, shouted insults and carried banners with slogans including “gay pride the shame of our city” and “gays today, paedophiles tomorrow”. A number of the anti-gay protesters were arrested by police.
“We want to build a society of solidarity, support and community where no one will hide their love or confine their identity within four walls. We want a society where there will be no ‘closets,’ because closets are for clothes,” said Marko Jurcevic, organiser of the parade.
Authorities said that a 27 year old man who marched in the parade was assaulted later that night by three attackers.
There were also parades in France and Greece – the French city of Strasbourg saw some 3,000 people take to the streets, and in Athens there were about 2,000.
1. Athens, 2. Sao Paulo, 3. Rome, 4. Zagreb, 5. Rome.
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