50,000 people celebrate World Pride in Sydney with march over Harbor Bridge Kremlin critics in prison: “Power has driven Putin crazy”

50,000 people in Sydney celebrated the last day of WorldPride 2023 with rainbow flags, a huge colorful snake and a variety of flashy outfits. A march across the famous Harbor Bridge near the opera house in the Australian east coast metropolis on Sunday morning (local time) was also part of the most important major event of the year for the global LGBTQIA+ community. The abbreviation stands for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intergender people, queer and asexual people, as well as other sexual minorities.

The closing event was attended not only by many young people, but also by older couples and entire families, including many Indigenous Australians. Under a clear blue sky and temperatures around 22 degrees, they walked a four-kilometer route that led from North Sydney over the Harbor Bridge to the center of the city.

“There is something very special about educating the next generation about the importance of equality,” a woman in a white rhinestone and glitter outfit told Australian television channel ABC. She attended the event with her young niece dressed in a unicorn costume. Also in attendance were Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Secretary Penny Wong, Australia’s first openly lesbian woman in Parliament and Cabinet. “We are an inclusive country and it’s great to show that to the world,” Albanese told an ABC reporter.

Sydney is the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to host WorldPride. With over 300 events including concerts, films, exhibitions, drag shows and parades, Australia’s most populous city celebrated the diversity, acceptance and inclusion of the gay community. A highlight was the concert of pop singer Kylie Minogue, which took place on February 24. A day later followed the legendary Mardi Gras parade, celebrated for the 45th time – and for the first time since the start of the corona pandemic – on Sydney’s famous Oxford Street with 12,000 people.

On the last day of the colorful festival, Oxford Street was once again partying from 10am to 10pm. At the same time, the closing concert “Rainbow Republic” with seven hours of live music was to take place in the central green area The Domain – including a performance by German singer and transgender artist Kim Petras. (sda/dpa)