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Hungarians Celebrate Pride |
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By Rex Wockner International News Report Croatians March in First Gay Pride Parade
About 200 people marched in Croatia's first gay-pride
parade June 29 in Zagreb, the capital.
Police in riot gear protected the marchers from rightist-extremist protesters who heckled and jeered and reportedly set off a tear-gas canister. After the parade, when the police had left, 15 marchers were beaten up, organizers reported. A spokesman for the organizing committee promised to press charges for "infliction of serious injuries, violent behavior, disturbance of peaceful gatherings, and the persecution of organizations and individuals supporting the equality of citizens." Marchers demanded access to marriage, something 66 percent of Croatians oppose, according to one poll. "We want to cease being an obscure group and become citizens like the others," organizer Dorino Manzin told Agence France-Presse. According to the BBC, members of Parliament and human-rights officials joined the parade. "Love each other and fight for your rights," Interior Minister Sime Lucin said at a post-parade rally. Hungarians Celebrate Pride
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