Stockholm kicks off 10-days as Europe's gay capital (News Feature) By Lennart Simonsson Jul 25, 2008, 14:02 GMT Stockholm - Rainbow flags fluttered from city buses and outside museums and other public buildings Friday as Stockholm hosts Europride, a 10-day event that attracts thousands of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals from near and afar.
Some 800 events were on offer ranging from seminars, film screenings, exhibitions, theatre productions, numerous parties and a huge street parade on August 2. The event opens officially Friday evening with a sing-along at the Skansen open air museum and speeches by Indian Prince Mavendra Singh Gohil, Swedish EU Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstrom and professor on gender Tiina Rosenberg. Prince Mavendra from Gujurat state in western India made headlines a few years ago when he came out as gay. He told reporters that he aimed to highlight the need to abolish 'colonial-era laws' that are used to discriminate against homosexuals in India. The legislation and prejudice is also an impediment in efforts to spread knowledge about safe sex practices among men who have sex with men, the prince said. Using his royal status, the prince has been involved in the Lakshya Trust, a non-governmental organization NGO that promotes HIV awareness and prevention. EU Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstrom said it was important 'to push legislation within the European Union including a ban against discrimination against homosexuals.' Last year, Malmstrom took part in a gay pride parade staged in Warsaw that in 2010 was slated to host Europride. 'As politicians it is important to take a stance and uphold fundamental human rights, including the right for people to show their views,' Malmstrom said. Sweden, however, has yet to adopt legislation that will allow same-sex couples to marry but Malmstrom said 'we are getting there.' The street parade through Stockholm was anticipated to attract record numbers of participants and spectators. 'We reckoning on some 80,000 people in the parade,' parade coordinator Paul Turner told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, saying that some 130 groups have applied to take part in the colourful parade that in 2007 attracted some 500,000 spectators. Groups ranged from 'a 112 section' - referring to the emergency service telephone number used to alert the police, fire brigade and other emergency services - to political parties, gay choirs, gay allotment gardeners 'with their flowers,' the national teachers union, nurses and doctors as well as parent and sibling groups formed to support homosexuals, he said. The Europride week theme is 'Swedish Sin, Breaking Borders' and organizers said the aim was to show pride over the progress made in Sweden and also highlight the problems in the rest of the world where gay pride events are banned and attacked. More details on www.stockholmpride.org/en where an online visitor can study the scores of daily events on offer. -- www.gaybombay.in www.gaybombay.info
