LONDON, July 4, 2009  ─  More that a million people were in London for the annual gay pride parade this afternoon, police estimated.  And pride chair Paul Birrell thought that up to 100,000 took part in the parade.

Sarah Brown, the wife of Prime Minister Gordon Brown was among those on the parade which passed along some of the iconic London streets.

Also on the parade was Mariela Castro, daugher of President Raúl Castro and niece of Fidel Castro.

Speaking mainly in Spanish, she did say in English: "Hello London ... this is a wonderful festival of equality" when she addressed the crowd in Trafalgar Square after the parade.

Ms. Castro is the head of CENESEX (Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual - the National Centre for Sex Education, a government-funded organisation which is best know for its advocacy work on LGBT issues.

When asked for her impressions of Pride London, and the gay 'scene' in the capital, she replied in one word: "Beautiful".  And the word was accompanied with a large and genuine smile.

Openly gay Labour MP Chris Bryant, recently appointed the Under-Secretary of State for Foriegn Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, told the crowd: "I don't want to be tollerated, I want to be respected" - this got the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

SEE ALSO

Pride London in Photos.  Link goes to the first of eight pages, with 80 photos of the parade and 11 in Trafalgar Square.  (UK Gay News, July 4, 2009)

LINK

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