New York Pride sees thousands dance, march NAKED and celebrate in colourful gay rights parade - while Turkish riot police crack down on BANNED march in Istanbul
WHILE happy crowds enjoyed a colourful gay pride parade in New York today, riot police with dogs, guns and riot shields ruthlessly crushed lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex activists defying a ban on a similar event in Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of people watched marchers in colourful fancy dress - and in some cases no clothes at all - at the Big Apple's NYC Pride Parade.
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But police used tear gas to disperse crowds gathering to fight for gay and transgender rights at Istanbul LGBTI+ Pride, which has been banned by the Istanbul governor's office for the third year in a row.
Activists said plastic bullets were also used and riot-control cops were dispatched to the area, while pictures taken at the scene reportedly show Turkish nationalists attacking and abusing protesters.
Turkey's official Anadolu news agency said "an estimated 20 people" were detained after protesters ignored warnings to disperse because the march did not have a permit.
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In New York a group of marchers heading down New York's Fifth Avenue carrying photographs of US President Donald Trump and his press secretary, Sean Spicer, as others waved banners bearing the word 'RESIST' and the rainbow flag of the Pride movement.
Brad Hoylman, a Democratic lawmaker in the New York State Senate, said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people were "under assault" by the Trump administration.
He said: "He already rolled back rights for transgender students, for example, and the list is on and on.
"So we have a lot more work to do, that's why we are here today."
Participants included Chelsea Manning, the transgender U.S. Army soldier who served seven years in prison for leaking classified data before former President Barack Obama granted her clemency.
"Honored to represent the ACLU at this years NYC Pride March," Manning said on Twitter, posting a photo of her riding in a red convertible.
"Started to lose my voice from screaming so much," Manning, who was released from a military prison in May, added.
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As a candidate, Trump promised to protect gay people. But his move in February to revoke the Obama administration's guidance letting transgender students choose which gender bathroom they use, and his executive order last month to promote religious liberty have been seen by some as discriminatory.
The New York march's grand marshals this year include the American Civil Liberties Union, which was chosen for its history of litigation defending gay rights; Brooke Guinan, a transgender woman who works as a firefighter in the city; and Geng Le, a gay rights activist in China.
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The march route ends on Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village to commemorate the riots that broke out there in 1969 after police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in an event seen as a turning point in the gay rights movement. New York's first Pride march started close by a year later.
Turkish authorities allowed pride marches to take place for more than a decade since the first one was held in 2003. Up to 100,000 people attended Istanbul Pride in 2014.
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But in 2015, police dispersed crowds using tear gas and water cannons after a last-minute ban. In 2016, amid a spate of deadly attacks blamed on the ISIS or on outlawed Kurdish militants, the event was banned again but participants still tried to gather.
Pride organisers think the celebrations have been banned since 2014 because they coincided with the holy month of Ramadan and a rise in religious conservatism.
Next month London will host the biggest LGBT+ parade in the UK, with thousands of people travelling the route either by foot or on floats.
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