World's Largest Pride Draws Millions Of Spectators To São Paulo, Brazil
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in São Paulo over the weekend to participate in the world's largest gay Pride parade.
The revelers descended upon the Brazilian city this Sunday for a celebration that took up more than 10 city blocks along Paulista avenue. Organizers were expecting upwards of 3 million attendees to show up, but police have yet to release any official crowd numbers.
While participants were decked out in wild rainbow colors, the tone of the march was quite serious as it focused on the threat of religious fundamentalists to the LGBT community. Prior to the parade, organizer Claudia Regina wrote on Facebook: "Our main enemies today are religious fundamentalists... [who want to remove] rights that we have already obtained."
Some marchers adopted this political tone, holding signs depicting Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in full drag.
Since it was first conceived in 1997, São Paulo Pride has grown to become the world's largest LGBT Pride parade. Though several politicians participate in the annual event, activists would be quick to point out the disparity between the support the government shows LGBT Brazilians on Pride versus the rest of the year.
This is especially true for the country's transgender community, which suffered 144 reported murders just last year alone.
Despite the obvious work that needs to be done, São Paulo Pride continues to be an important space for LGBT South Americans to gather and celebrate one another.
For more on this year's Pride, check out the photos below.