By IANS
Madrid : Hundreds of thousands of people carrying rainbow flags marched here in support of equality for gays and lesbians throughout Europe, Spanish news agency EFE reported Sunday.
Well over one million people took part in Saturday's march, part of the "Europride 2007" event being held for the first time in Spain, organisers said.
More than 40 floats used in the parade blared music as dancing marchers, dressed in both daring and more conventional costumes, made their way through the streets of central Madrid.
Lesbians, homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals and their supporters from all over the world took part in the march as families with children, young people and adults gathered in the heart of the city to witness the spectacle.
The festive atmosphere, however, did not blur the serious demands of the demonstrators which they set forth in a manifesto read at the end of the parade.
The manifesto said since the first demonstration by Spaniards 30 years ago in Barcelona, a level of "social and legal recognition" of the gays and lesbians had been achieved which at that time seemed "almost impossible."
However, despite the legal and social advances, "there is still a lot to do" to combat discrimination, it said.
They also noted that in countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan and Yemen, homosexual relations are punishable by death and that, within Europe, the "conservative, reactionary, archaic and backward" government of Poland "blatantly" persecutes non-heterosexuals.
The marchers made special mention of the homosexuals and transsexuals of Latin America, with whom "we have to continue establishing closer ties."
Spain, once one of the most conservative countries in Europe, today is among a handful of nations in the world that have legalized same-sex marriage. Since that law was enacted on July 4, 2005, 3,340 such weddings have been celebrated, 2,375 involving male couples and 965 involving women.
The Iberian nation also has passed legislation that allows gay couples to adopt children, and permits transsexuals to legally change their gender without having to undergo a sex-change operation.
Organizers of the gay pride parade in Madrid said that the choice of the Spanish capital as host of the "Europride 2007" was a recognition of the advances that country has made in recent years with regard to equality legislation.