2,000 March in Peaceful Zagreb Gay Pride

The Pride parade, staged under the slogan ‘On the Right Side of the History’, saw protesters march through Zagreb on Saturday and hold a celebration in a city-centre park.

“Being on the right side of history is being on the side of the oppressed, disempowered, invisible and overlooked... to be on the margins today, in resistance tomorrow, and in freedom forever,” the organisers said in a statement.

The parade was joined by Mirela Holy, the leader of left-wing opposition party ORaH - the only senior politician to attend the event this year.

“It’s a fact that same-sex unions, in other words sexual minorities, are one of the most endangered groups in society,” she said.

The Zagreb Pride organisers awarded Holy their annual ‘Homo Friend of the Year’ prize.

Zeljka Markic, the leader of the conservative campaigning group In the Name of the Family, which successfully pushed for a referendum earlier this year effectively outlawing gay marriage, was given the ‘Homophobe of the Year’ award.

The event was followed by concerts and parties in clubs across the city.