Thousands attend EuroPride parade in Thessaloniki
A colourful “river” of people of all ages from across Europe marched through the centre of Thessaloniki in Northern Greece on Saturday, marking the end of a 10-day celebration of the LGBTQ community
According to police, the parade was attended by more than 10,000 people with the events heavily guarded by riot police in order to avoid incidents after far-right parties that are hostile to the LGBTQ community registered gains across northern Greece in recent European elections.
Police had banned counterdemonstrations in the city to prevent any tensions or violence.
On Friday, a 34-year-old was arrested for urging a counter demonstration “against the destruction of the family to resist the LGBTQ junta.”
He was charged and will remain in custody until Monday.
Demonstrators holding colourful balloons, flags, whistles and drums danced and sang throughout the march. Some placards read “love makes the family”, “proud parents together with our LGBT children”, “one law is not enough”, and “ban on conversion practices in the European union”.
“Hundreds of volunteers have come from all over Europe to help make Thessaloniki Pride bigger and stronger. What is happening today is fantastic. We are very happy to see so many thousands of people participating in this parade,” said Lucas, 27, from Portugal.
“Thessaloniki was chosen among other reasons because of the slow progress on the rights of the LGBT community. Today we are sending a very important message: with solidarity we will succeed in every corner of Europe,” Thessaloniki Pride spokesman Apostolis Karampairis told AFP.
“Despite the fact that the law on same-sex couples has been passed, we still have a long way to go to make the sexual identity of every human being accepted by the whole of society,” 23-year-old student Dimitris Stefanakis added.
The conservative government earlier this year pushed through a bill legalising same-sex marriage and adoption despite opposition from the powerful Orthodox Church and some of its own ministers.
When the bill passed in February, dozens of people waving rainbow flags celebrated in front of the parliament building in central Athens.
However, the ruling New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis blamed the legislation for its weaker showing in EU parliament elections last week.
New Democracy, which has been in power since 2019, won the most votes in the ballot but its 28-percent share was lower than the 33 percent it obtained in the previous European elections and well below the 40 percent it won in Greek parliamentary elections in June 2023.
Mitsotakis told Bloomberg TV that the same-sex social reforms had “put off some traditional voters”.
by Vassilis KYRIAKOULIS
June 29, 2024
By Associated Press
About 15,000 people attended the annual EuroPride parade Saturday, police said, in support of the LGBTQ+ community in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki amid a heavy police presence.
The parade, whose motto is "Persevere, Progress, Prosper," was staged on the ninth and last day of a series of events across the city. It was to be followed later Saturday by a concert and a series of parties.
"This participation from across Europe sends a message," parade participant Michalis Filippidis told the Associated Press. "It is very, very good. We are all united like a fist and, despite many things happening, we are all here to fight for our rights."
Participants marched through the city center, ending up at the city’s waterfront, at the statue of Alexander the Great, the most famous ruler of the ancient Greek Kingdom of Macedonia. The nearby White Tower, once part of the city’s fortifications but now a standalone monument, emblematic of the city, was dressed in the colors of the rainbow.
There was a heavy police presence to prevent counterdemonstrations. In the end, police said, 15 people were detained for shouting obscenities at parade participants and, in one case, trying to throw eggs at them. Police prevented them from getting too close to parade participants.
Some Greek participants in the parade chanted at the counterdemonstrators: "For every racist and homophobe, there is a place in Thermaikos," the gulf on whose shores the city is built.
A 34-year-old man who had called for an anti-gay demonstration, despite the police’s ban on such an action, was arrested and will appear in court Monday on charges of inciting disobedience and disturbing the peace. He was visited in prison by the head of Niki, an ultra-religious political party, one of three far-right parties that elected representatives to the European Parliament in elections earlier in June.
Nationalism and religious fervor are more pronounced in Thessaloniki and other northern Greek areas than the rest of the country. The far right’s strong showing in elections was in part due to passage earlier in the year of a law legalizing same-sex marriage. The law, strongly backed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was opposed by nearly a third of the lawmakers from his conservative New Democracy party, and was backed by much of the left opposition, except for the Communists, who voted against it.
The EuroPride parade had strong official backing. The city was a co-sponsor and several foreign ambassadors attended.
"I am proud to be here ... for EuroPride 2024," said U.S. Ambassador to Greece George Tsunis. "This is about human dignity, this is about acceptance, this is about love, this is about equality. And, frankly, we need more love, more acceptance, more kindness in this world."
"I am here to show our support for diversity and equality for all. You are who you are, and you can love who you love," said Dutch Ambassador to Greece Susanna Terstal.
"I welcome the ambassadors ... and all the participants to Thessaloniki, a multicolored, friendly city that considers human rights non-negotiable," said Mayor Stelios Angeloudis.
Next year's EuroPride will take place in Lisbon.
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