Tens of thousands of people joined gay pride marches across Europe on Saturday but homophobic groups spoiled the party in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria where many were arrested for disrupting events. Gay Parisians gathered for Pride Extremists throwing rocks, bottles and gasoline bombs attacked the Bulgarian capital's first gay pride parade. Police say they prevented the extremists from harming the 150 or so people in the procession through Sofia, detaining around 60 people for harassing the parade participants. No serious injuries were reported. Meanwhile, tear gas and fireworks were used by a mob of 150 homophobes, among them nationalist extremists, at a Pride event in the Czech city of Brno. Three people were arrested following the attacks, which injured 20 people. Pride was also celebrated in Paris, where tens of thousands of spectators turned out for the annual event which took discrimination at school in France as its theme. "At school, people used to throw stones at me and insult me," said Jasen, a 15-year-old student who took part in the march. Honolulu, Berlin, Florida and New York City also held Pride events yesterday.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Sunday, 29th June 2008 - 6:19pm