Annual LGBT Pride marches held over the
weekend in Madrid and Paris brought tribute to and reminders of the 49
people who died in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando,
Florida.
According to the AP, Paris' parade took
place Saturday amid tight security.
Signs which read “Paris [heart]
Orlando” were visible among the thousands of participants, some of
whom also wore black armbands to pay tribute to the victims.
French President Francois Hollande used
the parade's hashtag #MarchedesFiertes in tweeting: “Let's keep
fighting for freedom and equality.”
Reminders of the massacre were also
visible during Madrid's annual parade. With estimates as high as one
million revelers, Madrid's LGBT Pride parade arrived in the wake of a
reported increase in the number of anti-gay attacks in and around the
city.
“We are calling for diversity to be
respected in the educational system, the health system,” a young
woman who participated in the massive parade told Euronews.
“Our children are the first ones who have grown up in [a] more
egalitarian Spanish society, and they will not have trouble with the
law. But the rest of the system and citizens need to know the
diversity and respect us like any other family.”