After a pandemic hiatus, Pride events returned in many cities around the world on Sunday.
The streets were once again filled with celebrations and parades, but many others were held in very different moods.
Here’s a look at how the pride was marked around the world:
celebrations in canada
Canada’s biggest pride festival returned to Toronto on Sunday after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus, with thousands of raves lining the city’s streets despite the shadow of recent anti-LGBTQ violence.
Thousands packed the parade route, some sitting on construction scaffolding, as the procession made its way from the north end of Gay Village to Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto.
“It’s really rewarding. It’s an honor. We’re excited to be on the road celebrating Pride,” said Sherwin Modest, executive director of Pride Toronto, the non-profit organization behind the festival.
Organizers said ahead of the weekend the festival was working with private security firms to conduct security checks for weapons at designated locations.
There was never a risk of a possible thunderstorm Sunday afternoon as it rained only intermittently on marchers dressed in rainbow colors.
The parade was the culmination of the parade in Toronto’s month-long festivities, but festivities will continue until Sunday night, including outdoor concerts along Church Street in Gay Village. The festival also hosted several other events over the weekend, including the Trans March on Friday and the Dike March on Saturday.
Parade, protests in America
Thousands of people – many decked out in proud colors – line the parade route through Manhattan, passing by as they float and march.
New York’s first Pride March, then called the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, was held in 1970 to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a spontaneous street rebellion triggered by a police raid on a gay bar in Manhattan .
The spirit of protest was alive again on Sunday, with many in the parade drawing attention to abortion rights following Friday’s decision of the US Supreme Court, which in its landmark 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade, which secured almost constitutional protections for abortion in the country. 50 years.
In San Francisco, some marchers and onlookers held up signs condemning the court’s abortion decision.
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was in a convertible and a rainbow fan, said the overwhelming majority of the vote was an acknowledgment that Americans support gay rights.
The first March of San Francisco was in 1972 and was held every year, except for the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
LGBT leaders fear the Supreme Court ruling will jeopardize individual liberties beyond the right to abortion. In a consensual opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court may reconsider other precedents, specifically referring to rulings protecting the rights to contraception, same-sex intimacy and same-sex marriage.
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot – seen second from left in the first photo below – ruled the top court a “momentary setback” and said Sunday’s events were “an opportunity for us to celebrate not only pride but The fight was resolved.”
“We will not live in a world, not in my city, where our rights have been taken away or taken away from us,” said Lightfoot, Chicago’s first openly gay mayor and the first black woman to hold office.
arrests in turkey
Dozens of people were detained in central Istanbul after city officials banned a pride march.
Turkey was one of the first few Muslim-majority countries to allow pride marches, but the country’s largest city has banned marches since 2015. Large crowds gather every year to mark the end of Pride Month.
Organizers said more than 100 people were arrested on Sunday. Pictures circulating on social media show people being searched and loaded into buses.
mourning in norway
Norway’s prime minister, pictured in the first photo below, and members of the royal family joined mourners at a memorial service for the victims of a shooting attack as the capital held its annual Pride Festival.
A gunman opened fire in central Oslo’s nightlife district early Saturday, killing two people and injuring more than 20 in what Norway’s security service called an “Islamic terrorist act”.
The capital’s Pride Parade was to be held on Saturday, but was cancelled. Police investigators said it was unclear whether hatred of people based on sexual orientation and gender identity prompted the attack.
demand for inclusion in India
Along with the celebrations, the south Indian city of Chennai saw a demand for inclusion in a pride parade.
Marital rights, adoption rights, property rights and better surrogacy laws were some of the demands of the attendees.
While same-sex relationships are considered taboo by many in socially conservative India, and no longer carry up to 10 years in prison, other rights such as same-sex marriage are likely to prove elusive.
