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| Marchers carry a rainbow flag aloft at a Gay Pride parade in Zagreb, Croatia (AFP Photo/STRINGER) |
Bucharest (AFP) - Thousands of people took to the streets to support LGBT rights in cities across Europe on Saturday, with marchers waving rainbow flags and condemning discrimination in all its forms.
Peaceful
parades took place across European cities including the capitals of Italy,
Greece, Latvia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland.
In
Bucharest, some 3,000 people marched through the city centre with many
celebrating a ruling made by the EU's top court earlier this week.
The
European Court of Justice ruled in favour of Romanian gay man Relu Coman's right
to have his US husband Robert "Clai" Hamilton live with him in
Romania.
"Clai
and I are two people who did not accept discrimination. If more of us did the
same, the world would be better," Coman told AFP at the march.
Romania
does not recognise same-sex marriage and had argued that Hamilton was not
entitled to EU residency rights awarded to spouses.
The
European court ruling means that same-sex partners of EU citizens have the
right to live in any member state whatever their nationality, even in countries
that do not recognise gay marriage.
In Warsaw, tens of thousands marched for the annual "Equality Parade" to protest discrimination not just against LGBT people but also women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
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Two men
kiss at the Baltic Pride parade in Latvia's capital Riga (AFP
Photo/Ilmars
ZNOTINS)
|
In Warsaw, tens of thousands marched for the annual "Equality Parade" to protest discrimination not just against LGBT people but also women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.
Organisers
said 45,000 people took part, while the town hall gave a lower estimate of
23,000.
'Love
knows no boundaries'
"I
come from a small town and first marched for equality 10 years ago, without
telling my parents," Dominika Wroblewska said at the Warsaw parade.
"It's
very moving for me, especially since I came out a year ago," she said.
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Rainbow
flags fly at the parade in Riga (AFP Photo/Ilmars ZNOTINS)
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Her partner
Alicja Nauman said she was marching "because I want to live in a place
where all love is accepted, because love knows no boundaries".
"The
situation in Poland is bad because same-sex couples cannot marry or adopt
children."
Thousands,
including members of a LGBT police association, also turned out for the 14th
edition of Gay Pride in Athens.
The Athens
events had previously been largely shunned by institutions and notably harassed
by far-right groups, but this year's edition was attended by a delegation from
the liberal-conservative New Democracy party.
Not to be
outdone, the facade of parliament, overlooking Syntagma square at the heart of
the festivities, was symbolically lit up in all colours of the rainbow in a
government initiative.
Since the
leftist government took office in 2015, Greece has extended civil partnerships
to same-sex couples, authorised sex changes from the age of 15 and legislated
for children to be adopted by same-sex partners -- though New Democracy voted
against the reforms which the powerful Orthodox Church also opposes.
The
"Baltic Pride" parade in Latvia's capital Riga included members of
the gay community from fellow Baltic states Estonia and Lithuania.
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A handful
of anti-gay protesters rally before the parade in Riga (AFP Photo/
Ilmars
ZNOTINS)
|
One of the
organisers, Kaspars Zalitis, told AFP that about eight thousand people marched.
"Latvia
is in last place in the European Union when it comes to the rights of LGBT
people," Zalitis said.
"There
is no protection against hate crimes, no respect for trans people, that's why
we think this issue is greatly urgent."
About 30
people protested before the start of the parade in Riga, following a call by a
rightwing group for a demonstration against "the promotion of
homosexuality".
In Rome,
thousands also marched Saturday just days after Italy's new families minister
from the far-right League party caused a storm, saying homosexual families do
not legally exist.
"It's
very important that we're here, because we need to respond and show that it's
not true that we don't exist," said Andrea, 27.
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