Warsaw resident with rainbow flags walk in a colorful annual Equality Parade to show their support for sexual minority groups in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 11, 2016. The 16th parade Saturday is held at a time when views concerning minorities are getting radicalized under a right-wing government that took office in November. A visible police presence accompanied the march.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Backers and members of sexual minority groups carry rainbow flags as a sign of support for these groups in a colorful annual Equality Parade in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 11, 2016. The 16th parade Saturday is held at a time when views concerning minorities are getting radicalized under a right-wing government that took office in November. A visible police presence accompanied the march. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Thousands of Warsaw residents with rainbow flags walk in a colourful annual Equality Parade to show their support for sexual minority groups in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, June 11, 2016. The 16th parade Saturday is held at a time when views concerning minorities are getting radicalized under a right-wing government that took office in November. A visible police presence accompanied the march. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Several thousand people marched Saturday in colorful gay pride events in Italy, Poland and Croatia urging support for minority rights in the mostly Catholic nations.
The parades in Poland and Croatia come amid mounting right-wing sentiments that pose new challenges to gay rights activists. In Italy, however, the gay pride celebration comes after lawmakers granted some legal rights to same-sex couples.
Balloons and flags in rainbow colors marked both the Equality March in the Polish capital of Warsaw and Zagreb’s Gay Pride event while participants at the parade in Rome were more daring, baring a bit of skin in some cases.
In Zagreb, former interior minister Ranko Ostojic and several well-known public figures joined the event dubbed “Croatia is Not Over Yet.” Ostojic says “I am glad to be here today, this is my Croatia.”
Liberals have warned that Croatia has been tilting to the right under a conservative government that took over in January. Similarly in Poland, there are concerns for minority rights under a right-wing government that took office in November.
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