Bucharest gay pride march resumes after year-long coronavirus pause
- Marchers young and old walked through the Romanian capital’s streets, with many waving colourful flags and blowing whistles
- Hours before the LGBT parade kicked off on Saturday, around 100 far-right opponents held an anti-LGBT countermarch in Bucharest
Several thousand LGBT supporters took to the streets in the Romanian capital of Bucharest on Saturday for a gay pride parade that resumed after a year’s pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Marchers young and old walked through the capital’s streets, with many waving colourful flags and blowing whistles.
Teodora Ion-Rotaru, executive director of ACCEPT Association, an LGBT rights group, said Bucharest Pride, which has been running since 2004, “remains a protest that asks for the very basics.”
Although Romania joined the European Union in 2007 and the bloc prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, Ion-Rotaru says state protections often do not stretch far enough.
“The march asks for protection from violence, protection from discrimination, protection from being fired for your sexual orientation or gender identity,” she said.
Hours before the LGBT parade kicked off on Saturday, around 100 far-right opponents, who advocate for traditional family values, held an anti-LGBT countermarch in the capital.