The sunshine fairies danced samba with gusto to keep the rain at bay. They allowed just enough misty sprinkles to wet the perfect bodies of the men and others showing off their goods. Skin glistened in the grey light of the cool afternoon.
OK, so it was not Copacabana’s best day weather wise – but believe me, no one noticed, we were all too busy being swept up into the excitement of the 15th annual Gay Pride Parade in Rio de Janeiro
Seven trio electricos spread out across Copacabana Beach
The official theme was to promote the criminalization of homophobia (hate crimes legislation). There is a law that has been introduced (repeatedly) in Brazilia to do just that, but it has been defeated in large part because of the powerful Catholic Church lobby and other conservative so-called Christian organizations (who are thus in favor of anti-gay violence, I presume, why else?).
What a great day. We met up with Zezinho and three of his friends and tried multiple times to hook up with Rachel and her friend, but no no avail. The crowd was intense.
We bailed after about 6 hours, but the party was far from over.
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3 comments:
Something tells me I don't even need to ask you if you had a good time! How big do you estimate the crowd to have been? I wonder how it compares to the Gay Pride parades here in San Francisco?
-Chris
http://www.floridaguyinbrazil.com
That is incredible!! I always go to the gay pride parade in Chicago and am blown away by how big and fun it is but this takes it to a whole new level!!!! How wonderful!
Chris - They say a million people. São Paulo draws the biggest crowd in the world.
It is very different than SF - It's not really a parade. No contingents, etc. Here in Brazil it is all about the trio electrico, dancing and the crowd. So basically the event is a street party with huge music trucks -- and of course the participants.
But it is totally different than SF.
Paper P - It was definitely a blast!
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