Pride on show as parade celebrates sexual diversity
HUNDREDS of thousands of revellers young and old danced, cheered and partied on the rainbow streets of Madrid at the weekend in the world’s biggest march for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights.
Carried along by the slogan “Viva la vida!” (Live life!), drag queens, policemen, activists and politicians made their way through the centre in celebration of sexual diversity and in defence of LGBT people the world over, under the watchful eye of security forces.
Young people mixed with parents and their kids to cheer on as the noise of hovering helicopters blended in with the drums of the march.
Jonathan Franklin, a 35year-old Dutch-Australian pilot, was dancing in the march with his boyfriend.
“We have to fight for our rights together,” he said. “In Holland, we can get married but do you know that in Australia, we are still fighting to obtain gay marriage?
“Surprising isn’t it?! and inexcusable.”
Authorities and organisers were expecting one to two million people to attend the parade in the 3.1-million-strong Spanish capital.
The WorldPride parade took place in a time of high tension across Europe, which has been hit by a string of attacks. Thousands of police, firefighters and security agents were mobilised for the event. Disgusting