Thousands flock to São Paulo LGBT Parade

Thousands of people rallied Sunday (May 4) to celebrate sexual and gender diversity in one of the main avenues of São Paulo city. Drawing revelers to the beat of electronic music, the LGBT Pride Parade (an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) in São Paulo is one of the world's largest events of its kind.

This year's was the eighteenth edition of the traditional parade, which attracts millions to the streets holding up rainbow flags, a symbol of LGBT activism, to protest against homophobia and hate crimes. The event, which is traditionally held in June, was moved to an earlier date to avoid conflicting with the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Wearing cinema-inspired costumes, dressed up drag queens and transsexuals caused excitement among attendees. Transsexual Lara Pertille said she was not bothered by her fans' harassment, and defined the parade as an opportunity for demonstration and visibility.

According to Nelson Matias, co-founder of the parade association, the right to love anybody is one of a private nature and deserves to be respected by society and protected by policymakers.

Ideli Salvatti, Chief Minister of the Presidency's Secretariat for Human Rights, said the LGBT community should draw on the power of the parade to put pressure on Congress to implement policies against discrimination, and expressed support for a bill to make homophobia a crime.

Translated by Mayra Borges