Men in black leather shorts and little else, others with pink and silver body paint and drag queens in flamboyant dresses paraded through Amsterdam’s canals on Saturday for the annual Gay Pride parade. Not even a downpour could dampen the festive mood as 80 colourful “floats” floated down the city centre’s Prinsengracht to loud techno music and the applause of “hundreds of thousands” of spectators, many in bright pink outfits. The biggest cheers went to a float “manned” by gays and lesbians from the Netherlands’ Turkish community, taking part for the first time in the parade, now in its 17th year. Wearing red T-shirts with the white crescent and star of the Turkish flag, the group took part to break sexual taboos in a culture considered traditional and conservative, the float’s organiser, Done Fil, told AFP before the parade. “It seems like we are the first generation that started a trend of ethnic groups coming out in the Netherlands,” she added, laughing. Fil, a 31-year-old lesbian from Amsterdam, said her group had also joined the parade “to celebrate 400 years of Dutch-Turkish relations and 50 years of Turkish community in the Netherlands.” The Netherlands and Turkey have been trading partners since 1612, when the first Dutch government official presented his credentials to the Ottoman Sultan. Also in the parade was Russian gay rights activist Polina Savchenko from St Petersburg, guest of honour on the City of Amsterdam boat, which carried a huge sign reading “Discrimination: Amsterdam is done with it.” Last month, St Petersburg police said they had prosecuted 73 people for violating new anti-gay legislation imposed on the former Russian tsarist city four months ago. However, Savchenko put the number of arrests at 30, saying they were mostly allegations of “non-compliance” with police orders to remove rainbow-coloured flags and clothing, the global symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride. “For me it is a great honour to be here, but also a chance to tell people what it is like (in St Petersburg) and how it affects people’s lives,” she told AFP. She praised the Dutch capital for its tolerant views on sexuality. “The atmosphere of freedom in Amsterdam is incredible,” Savchenko said. Many visitors – although they were here to party the night away – agreed with Savchenko’s views. “It’s incredible! Here you have a float through the city of Amsterdam with officers waving flags,” said Juuso Hamaladnen, 28, who travelled from Helsinki with his friend Jani Nieminen, 31. “There was even a boat with policemen,” shouted Hamaladnen, who was dressed in an identical sailor’s uniform to Hamaladnen. “It’s unbelievable!” he told AFP before disappearing into the crowd of spectators. Police spokeswoman Marjolein Koek told AFP at 5pm (15:00 GMT) that the parade had passed without incident, “although it was busier than in other years.” According to the city of Amsterdam, between 300,000 and 500,000 people attend the parade each year. There are around a million gay people in the Netherlands, and in 2001 it became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. Of these, around 50,000 were in same-sex relationships in 2009, with almost a quarter married, the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said.
