Yahoo – AFP,
7 June 2014
Rome (AFP) - Tens of thousands took to the streets of Rome on Saturday for the city's annual Gay Pride parade and to call on the Italian government to recognise civil unions for same-sex couples.
A young
girl sporting raindow colours takes part in the annual Gay Pride
parade in
Rome, on June 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Tiziana Fabi)
|
Rome (AFP) - Tens of thousands took to the streets of Rome on Saturday for the city's annual Gay Pride parade and to call on the Italian government to recognise civil unions for same-sex couples.
The march
was held in a party atmosphere, with bright lights and rainbow flags adorning
the Via del Corso in the centre of the city.
Ignazio
Marino, Rome's left-wing mayor, opened the procession by repeating his campaign
promise to pass legislation allowing civil unions for gay couples.
"We
need to put pressure on parliament so Italy can overcome the shame of lagging
behind the rest of the European Union," Marino said.
It was the
second time a mayor has attended the event. Francesco Rutelli, also of the
centre-left, took part in 1994, the first year the march was held in Rome.
Although
polls find that a majority of Italians are in favour of civil unions for gay
couples, Italy has lagged behind its European neighbours in part because of the
influence of the powerful Catholic Church.
Mayor of
Rome Ignazio Marino (C) takes part in the annual Gay Pride
parade in Rome, on
June 6, 2014 (AFP Photo/Tiziana Fabi)
|
LGBT
activists described as "historic" a recent decision by a court in the
Tuscan city of Grosseto recognising the marriage of two Italian men who tied
the knot in New York.
Also
Saturday, some 400 people braved rainy weather to take part in a Gay Pride
march in Bucharest, also demanding the right to civil unions for same-sex
couples.
"Our
rights are not recognised by the Romanian state, and that brings no benefit to
the country while doing a lot of harm to the gay community," the head of a
gay rights group, Accept, said in the Romanian capital.
"I
hope ... things will go in the direction of what is happening in the West and
not towards an attitude like (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's," Cosmin
Bebu-Vijianu told AFP.
Some
participants whistled and booed when the march passed in front of the Russian
embassy.
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