RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - A crowd of thousands gathered on Copacabana Beach on Sunday for Rio de Janeiro’s 15th annual gay pride parade.Despite the occasional rain showers, supporters of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities crowded the Brazilian city’s Atlantica Avenue to dance to the sound of trucks blasting out music.
People dressed in symbolic rainbow costumes danced under a giant rainbow flag, in protest against homophobia and prejudice and violence directed at the gay community.- Participant Maite Schneider, aged 38, wanted to create awareness about hate crimes against gays and lesbians.
Schneider emblazoned the message across her dress, with slogans and plastic dolls covered in blood pinned to the fabric to make her point. She said she lost two male gay friends and one female gay friend to hate crimes in 2010.- “I am hoping,” she said, “that by 2011, as the city prepares to be an Olympics and World Cup host city, it will learn to embrace people’s diversity and get rid of this prejudice.”
Rio de Janeiro is said to be the world’s number one destination for gay tourism but the parade organisers say prejudice and violence against homosexuals are still common throughout the city.Other gay parades throughout the country have also been plagued by violence. Last year, a 35-year-old man was killed after Sao Paulo’s gay parade, the largest in Brazil. Local media reported he was beaten up as he left the parade.
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