Authorities in Minsk, Belarus approved an LGBT rally in the city for the first time ever. KyivPost reports that
authorities directed demonstrators not to use the rainbow flag.
UK Gay News
supplies the above photo, and writes:
The rally was seen to have created history in the country where events organised by the gay community up to now have always been banned.
And the result was that there were twice as many journalists on hand to cover the event than those taking part.
“For the first time the only thing that we feared was neither the police nor the homophobe hooligans but the cold,” said Sergey Praded, organiser of the event and co-chair of IDAHO Belarus.
“In the last six months, we have submitted dozens of applications to hold a rally. We appealed to the court. But it seems that the dialogue that we also started to initiate with the authorities paid off.
“This is a very good first step for all of us and I hope that it will help us collect more participants to future actions.”
In addition to condemning homophobia, activists also called for equal rights for gays and lesbians.