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GAY PRIDE

Gay haters pelt eggs at Swedish minister

Swedish politician Birgitta Ohlsson was forced to scramble to safety after being pelted with eggs at a gay pride parade in Lithuania.

Gay haters pelt eggs at Swedish minister

Ohlsson, the Minister for European Union Affairs, was targeted along with several other politicians at the event in Vilnius. Protesters attempted to disrupt the parade, which was attended by hundreds, by throwing eggs and attempting to storm the stage.

“A few eggs hit me in the head,” Ohlsson told Expressen.

“Yes, it was definitely drama. Eggs were thrown at us and some hit me in the head and my body. It was a hateful atmosphere and I saw neo-Nazis and religious fundamentalists screaming hateful rhetoric.”

The parade, which was dubbed the “March for Equality”, is only the second ever gay pride event held in Lithuania which is a largely Catholic country.

A total of 28 arrests were made including Petras Grazulis who is an anti-gay lawmaker who attempted to encourage protesters with a bullhorn. The rioters tried to storm the stage but police cordoned them off.

Lithuanian politician Giedre Purvaneckiene, who stood at the front of the stage with Ohlsson and other dignitaries, was also targeted by the eggs.

“It shows that we need to march until eggs aren’t thrown anymore and people can march freely and without fear,” Purvaneckiene told the Associated Press.

Ohlsson did make a speech where she criticized Russia’s law against “homosexual propaganda.”

“It’s absolutely disgusting too see how right-wing extremists attack LGBT people not just in Russia but also across Europe. This is where the EU has an important role to play,” she said.

Associated Press reported there was one police officer injured in the day’s event.

TT/The Local/pr<a href="http://twitter.com/#!/thelocalsweden"

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GAY PRIDE

In pics: 400,000 march through Madrid for Gay Pride

Four hundred thousand people turned out on the streets of Madrid Saturday for a Gay Pride parade dedicated this year to pioneers of the LGBT+ cause, amid growing fears of fresh repression with the rise of the far-right in Europe.

In pics: 400,000 march through Madrid for Gay Pride

The marchers converged on the Spanish capital's main Atocha train station for the start of the festivities. The 400,000 figure was later given by police.

The slogan for this year's march was “History, struggle and memory” and participants marked 50 years since the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969 which were the foundation of the gay rights movement worldwide.

Catholic Spain at the time was controlled by dictator General Francisco Franco and homosexual acts were illegal. Thousands of gays were shipped off to rehabilitation centres or even jailed.

Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1978, three year's after Franco's death, since when Spain has become one of the most LGBT-tolerant countries in the world, authorising gay marriage and adoptions by gay couples in 2005.

“I'm 53 years old and I have suffered,” said Manuel Carmona, carrying a large rainbow flag for Saturday's march.

“But those who are 63-years-old suffered more and those who are 73-years-old even more and I want us to recognise these people who have helped us,” added Carmona who has been attending the pride march for 30 years.

Madrid's city hall swung to the right in June after a conservative candidate was elected mayor with the support of newly-emerged far-right party Vox, in a move that has caused concern in Spain.

Vox has said that the Madrid Gay Pride Parade should be moved to a park in the suburbs and opposes public subsidies for the event.

“They do not want to understand that when we talk about LGBT rights, we are talking about human rights,” said Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who is himself gay and took part in the march.

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