(28 Jun 1997) French/Nat
Tens of thousands of gays and lesbians marched in colourful parades in Paris and Berlin on Saturday.
There were the usual bright colours, unusual costumes and outrageous antics.
But there was a serious note as well - the Paris Europride marchers were calling for equal recognition for gay couples.
And in Berlin there was a sombre reminder of the tens of thousands of homosexuals who died in Nazi concentration camps.
Dressing to kill, drag-style in Paris.
One of the Europride marchers gets ready for the annual gay and lesbian parade.
High-heeled transvestites mixed with lesbians, some topless or in wedding dresses.
Gays - some with painted faces - others with huge plastic breasts - blew kisses to onlookers.
The numbers fell short of the organisers' estimated 200-thousand.
Behind the face-paint and the costumes, there was also a serious note.
A call for equal rights for same-sex couples.
Earlier in the week, a group of French left-wing lawmakers proposed a "contract of civil and social union" bill.
It's aimed at giving new legal recognition to homosexual couples or unwed heterosexuals.
The bill would put such unions on par with a married couple in the eyes of the law.
While the bill would include both heterosexual and homosexual couples, Deputy Jean-Pierre Michel, who submitted the proposal to the National Assembly, said that homosexual couples stand to benefit the most.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"These couples are absolutely not recognized, and today it's obvious that today they find themselves in very difficult and delicate situations which are worsened by AIDS, that's clear."
SUPER CAPTION: Jean Pierre Michel, National Assembly Deputy
This year, for the first time, European organisations participated in Paris' annual gay march.
While some of the marchers were there to celebrate gay rights in general, others had more specific aims.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Love, peace, understanding."
SUPER CAPTION: Stepan Handreck, from Sweden
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are not so much forward for our rights, so here we are, we're just self-explaining. We are to the rest of the world, here we are."
SUPER CAPTION: Fabio Cremonezzi, from Italy
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We just had a law passed which denies lesbian and single women the right to be inseminated. We thought that everything was going forward, but now we can see that there can be a backlash in Denmark too, even if we were the first country to have this right to marriage."
SUPER CAPTION: Juda Bassen, from Denmark
And a similar march in Berlin.
Again, the same outwardly festive air as at the sister march in Paris.
But, as in Paris, a more serious underlying note.
Marchers paid tribute to the tens of thousands of homosexuals who died in Nazi concentration camps.
The event also marked the 100th anniversary of the gay movement in Germany.
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