A participant is pictured at a Gay Pride parade in Athens, Greece June 9, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas
ATHENS, June 10 (Reuters) - In a sea of colourful balloons, thousands of Greeks marked Pride on Saturday, celebrating diversity and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals.
More than 10,000 people assembled in Athens's Syntagma Square, normally a regular venue of rage for protesters over financial reforms for the indebted country. But on Saturday it was a vista of rainbow flags, dancing and loud pumping music.
[caption id="attachment_371026" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
A participant is pictured at a Gay Pride parade in Athens, Greece June 9, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_371027" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Participants are pictured at a Gay Pride parade in Athens, Greece June 9, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_371028" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
A rainbow flag is seen in front of the Parliament building during a Gay Pride parade in Athens, Greece June 9, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas[/caption]
"For us, Pride is a source of celebration but simultaneously protest," said participant Yiorgos Kounanis, a political scientist. "We seek the same rights as heterosexuals, we pay the same taxes, have the same obligations and (therefore) demand equal rights," he said.
